James trials

This passage teaches clearly and unequivocally that God does not change. The reason, of course, that James mentions this is that he is making the point that God is committed to "good and perfect" gifts , not temptation to evil God is seeking our good and our perfecting, not our failure or downfall.

Now that we've understood the value of trials, let's go back to verses to understand our need for wisdom. And what are we to do when we are pressed to the wall and our sins and weaknesses lie exposed? We ask God for wisdom. When we ask people for wisdom, we often hear judgment instead: "I told you so.

And we have a very clear promise: "It will be given to him. There is a condition to the promise, however. We must ask with a clear commitment and faith. Unless we deal with our mixed motives and sins, we won't be able to hear wisdom even if God speaks to us.

Coming to God without repenting of and forsaking the sin that divides our allegiances won't work, either. Adversity and trial have a way of clarifying the issues and highlighting the decisions we need to make.

Faith flourishes where we come to a place of a single mind about the things of God, a place where doubt and indecision do not disable action, but where clear, single-mindedness enables it. What is the condition attached to this promise in verse 6? How do trials help us receive this wisdom? He Chose to Give Us Birth The passage closes with a wonder-filled statement of God's grace and mercy towards us, despite our bent to sinning:. James speaks of the new birth we have received from God.

We'll consider this passage more fully in Lesson 2. But the point is clear, my friend. God has chosen to give you birth. He knows about your struggles and sin. They are no surprise to him. Your sins are why Jesus died. Jesus bore your sins on the cross and redeemed you. And your trials and temptations have meaning. They are leading you towards God's wholeness within.

You are his choice. He has life for you, and a plan -- to be a firstfruits, a harbinger, a herald of a new age. God himself chose to give you birth. What a wonder! Father, thank you for your patience in refining me through my trials. Thank you for helping me really know you better now. Continue to have mercy on me as I grow. In Jesus' name, I pray. A single copy of this article is free. Do not put this on a website. He is wide-framed with an incredibly defined musculature.

Somehow he has managed to squeeze his massive arms into a white long-sleeved formal shirt with black sleeve garters and a red vest. Tied around his waist is a black bar apron that extends to just below his knees, concealing his groin from view. His powerful legs are clad in black slacks tucked into a pair of tall black boots. James is a Reaper Armaments bodyguard android. When his mysterious owner retired to New Texas and bought a bar they gave him the choice of freedom and he declines. Knowledge is raw information but wisdom knows how to use it.

Someone once said that knowledge is the ability to take things apart, but wisdom is the ability to put things together. Let him ask of God : To receive wisdom, we simply ask of God — who gives wisdom generously liberally , and without despising our request without reproach.

God does indeed give liberally. We understand that He is the God of the open hand, not the God of the clenched fist.

When we want wisdom, the place to begin and end is the Bible. The language here implies humility in coming to God. The beggar asks an alms. You are to ask as the beggar asks of you in the street, and God will give to you far more liberally than you give to the poor.

You must confess that you have no merit of your own. We notice that not only must one come in faith , but one must also ask in faith ; and this is where the prayers of many people fail. With no doubting… let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord : The one who doubts and lacks faith should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

This lack of faith and trust in God also shows that we have no foundation, being unstable in all our ways. A wave of the sea is a fitting description of one who is hindered by unbelief and unnecessary doubts. A double-minded man, unstable in all his ways : To ask God but to ask Him in a doubting way, shows that we are double-minded.

If we had no faith, we would never ask at all. If we had no unbelief, we would have no doubting. To be in the middle ground between faith and unbelief is to be double-minded. According to Hiebert, double-minded is literally two-souled. He wanted to believe, and declared his belief. Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes.

So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits. Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation : As much as it is appropriate for the lowly to rejoice when they are lifted up by God, so it is appropriate but far more difficult for the high the rich to rejoice when they are brought to humiliation by trials.

By faith in Christ the two are equals. Though we can understand the relative poverty and riches as trials or tests of a living faith that a Christian may deal with, it nonetheless seems that James has made a sudden shift in his subject, from trials and wisdom to riches and humility. In some ways, the Book of James is like the Book of Proverbs or other Old Testament wisdom literature, and it can jump from topic to topic and back again to a previous topic. Because as a flower of the field he will pass away : Trials serve to remind the rich and the high that though they are comfortable in this life, it is still only this life , which fades as the grass grows brown and the flowers fade away.

In the land of Israel there are many kinds of beautiful flowers that spring to life when the rains come, but they last for only a short time before withering away. On the scale of eternity, this is how quickly the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits. The riches of this world will certainly fade away — but James says that the rich man also will fade away. If we put our life and our identity into things that fade away , we will fade away also.

How much better to put our life and our identity into things that will never fade! If a man is only rich in this world, when he dies, he leaves his riches. But if a man is rich before God, when he dies, he goes to his riches. Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. In those great statements of blessing, Jesus did not tell us the only ways we can be blessed.

Here we learn we can be blessed as we endure temptation. For when he has been approved : Here James states the purpose of God in allowing temptation. The purpose is to approve us; that through the testing we would be revealed as genuine and strong in our faith. Who endures temptation : Temptation is one of the various trials James we face. As we persevere through temptation, we are approved , and will be rewarded as the work of God in us is evident through our resistance of temptation.

The crown of life which the Lord has promised : James reminds us that it really is worth it to endure under the temptations we face. Our steadfastness will be rewarded as we demonstrate our love for Jesus to those who love Him by resisting temptation. To those who love Him : This describes the motive for resisting temptation, because of our love for God. The passions of sinful temptation can only really be overcome by a greater passion, and that is a passion for the honor and glory and relationship with God.

Some resist temptation because of the fear of man. The thief suddenly becomes honest when he sees a policeman. Others resist the temptation to one sin because of the power of another sin. But the best motive for resisting temptation is to love Him ; to love Him with greater power and greater passion than your love for the sin. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.

Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Though He allows it, He Himself does not entice us to evil, though God may test our faith without a solicitation to evil nor does He Himself tempt anyone.

James knew that most people have an evil tendency to blame God when they find themselves in trials. Yet by His very nature, God is unable to either be tempted in the sense we are tempted, as James will explain , nor does He Himself tempt anyone. God sometimes allows great tests to come to His people, even some who might be thought of as His favorites. Other times He may send tests as a form of judgment upon those who have rejected Him, such as sending a spirit to bring deception 1 Kings or departing from a man and refusing to answer him 1 Samuel Yet in no case does God entice a person to evil.

Instead, temptation comes when we are drawn away by our own fleshly desires and enticed — with the world and the devil providing the enticement. Satan certainly tempts us, but the only reason temptation has a hook in us is because of our own fallen nature, which corrupts our God-given desires.

We often give Satan too much credit for his tempting powers and fail to recognize that we are drawn away by our own desires. Some people practically beg Satan to tempt them. Some who like to emphasize the sovereignty of God say that God is responsible for all things. By no means; for their hearts are subjected to depraved lusts, because they are already corrupt and vicious.

We will examine each verse in James individually. We will define key words and explain their meanings within each phrase. James addresses this passage to Jewish Christians those of the 12 tribes who had been scattered from Israel and were now living in Gentile lands.

So, the book of James is addressed primarily to those who are believers in Jesus Christ. The first section of this Bible study will explain the meaning of this challenging command. It is important to know the exact meaning of words when studying Scripture. As with most English words, these Greek words can have more than one meaning. The proper meaning is based on the immediate context in which the word occurs. In this case, we are being instructed in how we should begin thinking.

It is an aorist imperative, which means it is a command to begin doing something and continue doing it. In this phrase, we are commanded to begin doing something that does not come naturally. We are commanded to begin considering trials and testing as entirely joyful, as reasons for nothing but joy.

So, the command to count or consider something as all joy applies whenever a specific condition occurs. James begins with a command in the aorist tense, indicating something we should begin doing.

The implication is that we are not doing it now, but we are to start and continue doing what is commanded. We should not complain about our troubles or consider them as mixed blessings.

We are to consider our trials entirely as blessings, reasons to rejoice.