Present with God: In James 1

James Chapter 1

I’m James. I live in submission to God and to the Lord Jesus Christ. I’m writing this letter to Jesus- following Jews all over the world.

Life gets hard sometimes, but you can have an unconquerable joy in all of it. Just try to think of your struggles as opportunities to learn and to grow. When we can do that AND we can give it all to God, he works through our suffering to make us more and more like the patient, powerful, and victorious people he made us to be.

If things don’t make sense at times, that’s OK. Just turn to God and ask him to help you understand. He is good and generous and he will answer. Resist the urge to hold back. You can absolutely trust him. The more you try to hold on to some control, the less God can help you.

The way the world looks at things is totally upside down. All the things people trust for their future and their security are unreliable and temporary. There is such a deep sense of joy when you come to know that a wholehearted trust in God is the surest foundation to build a life of joy and contentment on.

Your temptations aren’t things that God does to you to try and trip you up. We get OURSELVES into trouble when we follow after our own appetites and passions instead of following after God. When we do, things just go from bad to worse. The end of that path is death. Don’t head in that direction.

Everything that is good comes from God and he gives all good things to us as gifts because he is our constant and reliable father. He created us for one purpose, to be the clearest representation of his glory in all of his creation.

Here’s a good rule to live by: listen first and listen hard. Don’t respond out of your passions. Don’t let your anger overtake your reason. You know you are not at your best when you’re angry and you likely aren’t being the person God made you to be. Live intentionally in a way that displays the things you believe. Don’t be the kind of person who says one thing and does the opposite. Don’t forget who you are and who God made you to be.

You can’t call yourself mature if you are careless with what you say. You’re fooling yourself and all your rituals and holy habits are worthless. Real holiness goes beyond words and instead does good to those in the world who need it most.