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    Growing in Wisdom and Faith: James
    Growing in Wisdom and Faith: James
    Growing in Wisdom and Faith: James
    Ebook147 pages2 hours

    Growing in Wisdom and Faith: James

    By Elizabeth George

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    About this ebook

    Where can women get the wisdom that will help them make the right choices in the many decisions of life? How can they develop a faith that won't waver or crumble when they're overwhelmed by life's trials and temptations? The book of James answers these questions and more and provides practical guidance on many issues that affect Christian women daily, such as:

    • persevering through life's troubles
    • putting on a heart of patience
    • planning the future with God in mind

    An encouraging resource for women who yearn to experience real spiritual growth!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarvest House Publishers
    Release dateJan 1, 2001
    ISBN9780736931090
    Growing in Wisdom and Faith: James
    Author

    Elizabeth George

    Elizabeth George is the New York Times bestselling author of sixteen novels of psychological suspense, one book of nonfiction, and two short story collections. Her work has been honored with the Anthony and Agatha awards, the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, and the MIMI, Germany's prestigious prize for suspense fiction. She lives in Washington State.

    Read more from Elizabeth George

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      Book preview

      Growing in Wisdom and Faith - Elizabeth George

      Lesson 1

      Hearing the Heart of a Servant

      James 1:1

      First words tell us so much, quickly identifing who a person is and revealing their heart.

      Well, dear one, today we meet James, the powerful leader of the early Christian church (see Acts 15). We read the first words he penned to Christians he had probably never met—and never would. There are only 20 words in this verse, but they are packed with meaning and information. Through this one short God-inspired utterance, we learn something about James and about the people to whom he wrote.

      A few facts will help us as we work our way through this New Testament epistle. For instance, this letter was written

      by James, to Jewish Christians in the first century,

      from Jerusalem, about A.D. 48,

      regarding putting faith to work in trials and hardship.

      Now, let’s learn about the man James and his message.

      James 1:1

      ¹ James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.

      God’s Message…

      1. James. The best way to learn more about James is to look at the few times he’s mentioned in the Bible. Take a minute to jot down the information you can gather from these scriptures.

      Matthew 13:53-55—

      Acts 1:10-14 and 15:12-13—

      1 Corinthians 15:3-7—

      Galatians 1:18-19 and 2:7-9—

      Now, in a sentence or two, describe James.

      2. A servant. James calls himself a servant. As a servant or bond-servant (or a doulos in the Greek language), James is stating outright that he considers himself to be a slave, one who is totally under the control of his master. In the words of another,

      The Greek word doulos (slave, servant) refers to a position of complete obedience, utter humility, and unshakable loyalty. Obedience was the work, humility was the position, and loyalty was the relationship that a master expected from a slave…. There can be no greater tribute to a believer than to be known as God’s obedient, humble, and loyal servant.²

      Now note how several other writers of the New Testament epistles refer to themselves:

      3. A servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Rather than name-dropping or boasting about the fact that he is related to Jesus, James chooses instead to refer to himself as a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. In James’s thinking, these two names are equal because Jesus is God. Instead of referring to Jesus as his kin, James respectfully uses Jesus’ full title:

      Lord—emphasizing His right to rule,

      Jesus—emphasizing His humanity, and

      Christ—emphasizing His Messiahship.

      Note a few other titles and relationships we enjoy in the Lord Jesus Christ:

      4. To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad. Exactly who were the twelve tribes? This phrase was used in James’s day to indicate the entire Jewish nation. In this case, James uses the twelve tribes to refer to and to include all Jewish Christians outside Palestine.

      And how had these people come to be scattered? Earlier deportations accounted for the dispersion of some. Also, many Jews had moved to other lands in search of wealth and opportunity. So, by force and by choice, Jews were living throughout the Roman Empire.

      It’s to these unknown fellow Jewish believers that James writes Greetings—a word that conveys a sense of joy and happiness and means rejoice, or be glad. James as much as states, I wish you joy!

      …and Your Heart’s Response

      •  James begins this powerful letter very simply…with only his name and an I.D. tag of a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing flowery is said, no words of explanation are given, and nothing impressive is mentioned. How do you normally introduce yourself? Or, put another way, do you speak to impress…or to express? Or, put still another way, where is your heart and mind when you talk about yourself? Take a minute to honestly answer.

      •  How does James’s reference to himself as a slave to God and to Christ challenge you? And when you consider that a slave was one whose will was not his own but who rather was committed to another, can you make such a claim?

      •  Read again these words describing a doulos—A position of complete obedience, utter humility, and unshakable loyalty. Obedience was the work, humility was the position, and loyalty was the relationship that a master expected from a slave.

      Do you consider yourself to be God’s obedient, humble, and loyal slave? If not, what’s standing in the way of such a commitment…and what do you plan to do about it?

      •  A slave was obligated to perform his master’s will completely, without question, and without delay. Are there any areas of disobedience in your life that make these actions of a slave an impossibility for you? If so, write out a plan of action here and now that will move you into a Master/slave relationship with Jesus Christ.

      •  Don’t fail to spend time praying for whole-hearted obedience to God, His Word, and His will.

      From the Heart of a Woman

      Well, our first lesson is finished! As I’m sitting and thinking and praying about James, I’m struck by his powerful and straight-to-the-heart message. A servant. A slave. A doulos. How foreign in our self-oriented world! Yet James shows us the way to true greatness. Like James and like his half-brother Jesus, we are to take upon ourselves the form of a servant, humble ourselves, and become obedient to God (Philippians 2:7-8). What does that mean, to you and to me, as women who yearn to follow after God’s own heart?

      It means obedience. As slaves we’re to know no law but our master’s word; to have no rights of our own; to be the absolute possession of our master; and to give our master unquestioning obedience.

      It means humility. Slave defines a woman who thinks not of privileges but of duties, not of rights but of obligations. It’s the word for one whose self is lost in the service of God.

      It means loyalty. Slave describes the woman who lives out her faith by doing all for God. Personal profit and personal preference do not enter into her calculations; her loyalty is to Him.

      It means joining the ranks of the great ones. Slave was the title by which the great ones of the Old Testament were known—Moses, Joshua, Caleb, the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Job, Isaiah, and the prophets. By choosing to take the title doulos, we set ourselves in the great succession of those who found their freedom and their peace and their glory in perfect submission to the will of God. The only greatness to which we Christians can ever aspire is that of being the slave of God.³

      Now, dear woman after God’s own heart, can you fill in the blank with your name, _______________, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ? May we learn to prize this title above all others in the world! May we willfully take upon ourselves the title and conduct of slave and join the ranks of those like James who were honored not only for who they were, but for whom they served—the living God!

      Lesson 2

      Living in Faith

      James 1:2-4

      We’ve started! We’re off on our study of the epistle of James, a New Testament book about living in genuine faith. I know we covered many important points in our first lesson about James, both the man and his epistle. But we did omit one vital fact for our understanding—why James wrote this letter. There are two main reasons for this little letter.

      External Problems—First of all, those to whom James wrote were experiencing a number of external problems and trials. His readers (as we’ll see later in our study) were being persecuted by their own non-believing Jewish countrymen and oppressed by the rich and powerful. They also suffered physical afflictions from various sources. Plus they were foreigners who had fled from their own country—truly strangers in a strange land.

      Internal Problems—In addition to problems from without, there were also problems from within. When you look at this list you’ll more than likely recognize yourself and some of your own challenges. (And you’ll also recognize why the book of James is so practical to you and me today!)

      •  Spiritual distress

      •  Wrong living caused by wrong doctrine

      •  Wrong attitudes toward the goodness of God and His gifts

      •  A general low spiritual state

      These led to

      •  Indulgence in unbridled speech

      •  Growth of strife and factions among themselves

      •  The adoption of a worldly spirit

      And so, dear one, James wrote to counteract these wrong thoughts and actions. He set about to explain the nature of genuine faith. And he exhorted his

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