Lessons From James
James 1:2-4 (11/21/13)
November 21, 2013 • Benham Brothers
James was writing to Jewish christians spread throughout who had fled Jerusalem because of Stephen's death James' encouragement was for them not to flee but to endure, to persevere The key to persevering in the midst of a trial is How You Receive It - as a gift from God to lead you to completeness in Christ How to receive a trial properly: 1) Consider the source of the trial - - is this trial from God or did it come from you (vs 13-15) - in either case you need to endure, but if it came from you then you need to start with repentance. Consider Cain - when anger was birthed in his heart murder crouched at his door - the sin that's crouching at your door is a product of what's in your heart. What are your temptations? 2) Ask yourself, "what is God saying to me?" 3) Focus on the reward - this gives you hope, and hope does not disappoint A trial is a "trial" and not a conviction (like in a court case - innocent until proven guilty) - God has promised victory if we simply endure If we don't endure and we quit then we lose - the trial is over and our "jail time" starts. We can stay out of jail if we just endure it
James 1:2-4 (11/19/15)
November 19, 2015 • Benham Brother
• James was writing to people who were scared because of intense persecution. • When God brings a trial it's for the testing and purification of our faith. • Strength comes through strain. • Two keys to enduring a trial: • 1) Receive it properly, as a gift from God. • 2) Focus on the reward for enduring it, like an athlete (Paul). • If you receive a trial as a gift and you focus on the reward you will endure. • Enduring a trial leads to maturity and completeness in Christ. • Two aspects of a trial: • 1) A trial is a trial - no sentence has been passed because no verdict has been given. • In court, when you're in a trial you haven't lost until you're convicted of a crime. • 2) There are two types of trials - the kind we bring on ourselves and the kind God brings. • We need to recognize the source of our trial to experience the joy of it. • vs 6 - to make it through a trial we need to shift from AM to FM - Analysis Mode to Faith Mode. • We are not to try to "make sense" of everything that happens to us. • Faith obeys God even when things don't make sense.
James 1:5-6 (11/16/17)
November 16, 2017 • Benham Brothers
* A prayer I’ve prayed every morning…… * But when you pray make sure you’re on FM and not AM. * Faith Mode vs Analysis Mode. * What God does doesn’t always make sense to us - often it doesn’t. * AM is based on human reason. * FM is based on God’s wisdom - God can throw that mountain into the sea if He wants it there! * Let’s pray in faith mode and watch God give us what we ask.
James 1:6-8 (11/12/20)
November 12, 2020 • Benham Brothers
* Confidence is a matter of focus. * James was Jacob, Christ’s half bro. * This was the first book of the NT that was written, almost 20 years after Jesus left the earth. * Notice the first four verses - it’s all about trials and persecution! * But we were meant to walk in CONFIDENCE! * Vs 5-8 - we are meant to pray in confidence knowing that God can answer and will answer when our request lines up with HIs will. * Without confidence, you become unstable. * EX: Trae shooting free-throws. * Only a little doubt casts a big shadow (like one drop of poison in a cup). * Doubt saps your power. * EX: Could you beat Lebron James in one-on-one if he were wearing high heels? * Maybe. He loses his power if he’s unstable. * Doubt removes our foundation of faith. * So Christ’s brother comes right out of the gate and tells us to BE CONFIDENT in God’s power!
James 1:9 (11/17/16)
November 17, 2016 • Benham Brothers
* The most powerful thing you can ever learn is how to re-frame a situation. * When something bad happens it’s so easy to focus on the problem. * The solution is to re-frame by focusing on a PERSON - God. * When you do this you’ll recognize that problems present opportunities to grow and glorify Him. * It also encourages you when you know He’s in control. * Think of Job - it was God’s idea for Satan to test him. * It was a great compliment to Job for this to happen - he was in a “high” position. * Testimony of Gabe.
James 1:13-15 (11/17/16)
November 17, 2016 • Benham Brothers
* God doesn’t tempt people to sin. * Temptation comes when something on the exterior touches something on our interior. * This is why Jesus talked so much about what’s in a person’s heart. * Our temptations reveal our potential apart from Christ. * Like Cain in the OT - the temptation to murder was crouching at his door because anger was in his heart. * But anger was in his heart because he wasn’t willing to give God his best - this was the root. * If you don’t deal with the root then you’ll end up doing the very things you don’t want to do. * You want to know the condition of your heart? * 1) Pay attention to what comes out of your mouth. * 2) Pay attention to the temptations that come your way.
James 1:16-17 (11/15/18)
November 15, 2018 • Benham Brothers
* Everything that’s good in your life comes from God. * This is a powerful principle: * You need to see through the stuff of life to God. * In marriage, my wife does not meet my needs, God does. * God uses her to do it. * When I see through her to God it releases all pressure off of her. * It also allows me to be thankful to Him, which gives me His presence in my life. * God is our source. People are the conduits through which God meets our needs. * When we see “through” others we don’t overly praise them or overly blame them - we see God doing good through them or the enemy doing bad through them.
James 1:19-20 (11/15/18)
November 15, 2018 • Benham Brothers
* Three steps to help you communicate better: * 1) Be quick to hear - your attitude should be that of understanding, not winning. * Conflict gives us a chance to better understand others. * This is also saying, “speak Lord,” and then just listening. * 2) Be slow to speak - think before you speak. * Put a bridle on your tongue. * When you speak it should be to speak LIFE. * 3) Slow to anger - anger is an emotion with a purpose. * The purpose of anger is to see justice done. * Justice is God’s department, not ours. * LEARN method - listen, empathize, ask questions, take responsibility, never undervalue.
James 2:1-6 (11/16/22)
November 16, 2022 • Benham Brothers • James 2:1
The book of James is all about living the faith you profess. James is a man of action. “You say you believe? Then act like it!” Who you are is revealed by how you are. How you treat others shows the type of person you are. EX: How you treat the server at a restaurant. We tip based on the value of the person, not the quality of the service. If you want to know who someone is, just watch how they treat the “little” people.But the reverse is true as well. If you’re in awe of a famous person, then check yourself.We’re not to be people-pleasers or people-worshippers. People-worshipping leads to people-pleasing. Both become butt-kissers. Vs 1-4 - don’t remove God from the seat of the judge! Favoritism = Judgmental. Favoritism is about comparison. Comparison is a relationship killer. When you compare others to yourself it leads to: Envy - comparing up. Pride - comparing down. When you compare others to others it leads to: Favoritism - you treat others as “less than.” Why shouldn’t you do this? Vs 5 - Because God wants you to hang around those who are rich in faith! You become like the closest five people in your life. Vs 8-9 - How you treat others reveals what you think of yourself! You treat them bad because you don’t like yourself and you want to feel better than someone so you can feel better. Vs 9 - if you show favoritism you break the law. Treat everyone equal - both up and down - and you will keep the law!
James 2:12-13 (11/17/16)
November 17, 2016 • Benham Brothers
* Free-flowing traffic is a result of those who submit to the law. * Living within the law brings freedom. * Breaking the law has consequences. * Our desire for freedom AND our desire to not be punished is what motivates us to obey the law. * James is telling us to act like this in our personal lives - as if God Himself would judge us according to His law. * But why would God create a law if He knew we would want to break it? * So He could show us His mercy. * Example - my own kids: I have rules for them that bring freedom, but if they disobey I will punish them. * I don’t want to punish, I want to show mercy - but I can’t do that unless they are truly repentant. * True repentance desires to honor the law that was broken. * We must also judge others according to God’s mercy to us. * This is why we pray “forgive us as we have forgiven others.” * It’s sabotage to pray this if we don’t have merciful hearts.
James 2:17-18 (11/21/13)
November 21, 2013 • Benham Brothers
Paul said salvation comes by faith, not works James said that faith without works is not true faith Do these contradict? Not hardly Paul addressed trying to EARN salvation, James addressed needing to PROVE salvation. Paul wrote in light of people being justified before God - James wrote in light of people being justified before man. God is looking for faith in the heart, but man can't see into the heart so he needs to see our works to prove our faith Work out what God has worked in
James 3:8 (11/17/16)
November 17, 2016 • Benham Brothers
* No human being can tame the tongue - only the Holy Spirit can do it. * Testimony of when I was younger. * I memorized Ephesians 4:29 - “Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” * It took a few years, but in time my tongue was clean. * Now it’s not even a temptation anymore.
James 3:9-11 (11/20/19)
November 20, 2019 • Benham Brothers
* This verse shows the evil of gossip. * People praise the Lord and then turn around and bad-mouth the people made in His image. * As a dad, I know how this works. * If you say you love me but bad-mouth my kids then you’ve just paid me lip service. * We do the same thing to God when we gossip. * Vs 10 - it’s not just gossip, but also profanity. * Many “celebrity Christians” use words like this and it makes them blend in with the world.
James 3:16-17 (12/3/20)
December 3, 2020 • Benham Brothers
* Envy is not just wanting what another person has, it’s not wanting them to have it if you can’t get it. (Jealousy is the state of envy) * Selfish ambition is using your energy to get something for yourself at the exclusion of others. * Both of these together are a recipe for disaster. * The way to overcome is to exhibit these 7 traits. * Imagine if everyone on a team operated by these 7 traits: * 1) Pure - this sits at the foundation. It’s being free from sinful pollution. * 2) Peaceable (peace-loving) - someone who brings calmness wherever they go. (Thermostats, not thermometer) * 3) Gentle (considerate) - not hurtful, consider how your words and actions affected others. * 4) Reasonable (submissive) - use common sense, put others above yourself. * 5) Merciful (full of mercy) - ready to show mercy when others mess up. * 6) Decisive (unwavering) - they can make a decision and stick with it. * 7) Impartial - they don’t play favorites. * 8) Sincere - they mean what they say (“let’s go to lunch” - don’t say it if you don’t mean it).
James 4:1 (11/23/22)
November 23, 2022 • Benham Brothers • James 4:1
When you make your peace with God you declare war on the devil. And he declares war on you. He seeks to rob, kill, destroy. He wants to rob you of your: Peace Power PurityPerson (identity) Satan is our adversary who makes accusations for our agreement. We should refuse to agree with the accuser. The battle takes place on three fronts: Personal - the fight within you. Relational - fighting with others Kingdom - fighting for http://others.the more victorious you are over the personal battle, and the more you stay out of the relational battle, the more prepared and powerful you are in the kingdom battle. James addresses this. The believers were losing the personal battle and engaged in the relational battle so it was distracting them from the kingdom battle. Vs 1 - “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?” If you lose the personal battle you’ll engage in the relational battle. What was the personal battle they were losing? Vs 2 - “You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight…” They were filled with “want.” Psalms 23 tells us, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not WANT…” If you’re filled with “want” you are losing the personal battle. Vs 2b-3 - “…You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”“Pleasures” - the personal battle is lost when you focus on pleasure over people. All sin is about gratifying your flesh. If you lose the personal battle you’ll engage in the relational battle and be useless in the kingdom battle. Win the battle by focusing on people over your own pleasure.