Burunche’s Blog

James 4:13 – 17 “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.” You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, whoever knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.”

When we began 2020, nobody was very worried about COVID – 19. We all thought that it was some crazy sickness that was going to stay somewhere else. We approached this year like someone starting out on a roller coaster ride. Everything was going smoothly and we were just climbing up a little bit. By March, we were beginning to be a bit worried, but not too much. Governments announced precautions.

 By May, things were looking far worse, and we were all deciding which mask to wear and “Do I really need to leave the house?” Our roller coaster was plunging into curves and loops and all we could do was to hang on!

Now it is July, and we see no real flattening of curves, just more and more curves! People we thought would be fine have died. People who had thriving businesses at the beginning of the year have lost those businesses or have had to drastically change the manner in which they operate. Travel plans have been abandoned or changed. Schools have closed and parents have had to learn about home schooling. No! Nobody would have predicted that 2020 would unfold in this fashion!

I have been corresponding with cousins whose mother became paralyzed during the last major polio epidemic in America, the polio epidemic of 1952. The night of August 17, 1952, my aunt walked up the stairs to the family bedrooms for the last time. By the following morning, she was in horrific pain and became increasingly paralyzed all that day. My aunt remained paralyzed from the neck down for the rest of her life.

In previous generations, believing Christians were fond of saying “If God wills it, …..” Here in Ghana, there are phrases in the tribal languages that mean the same thing. And James is correct; we are nothing but vapor. No matter how many plans we make, they can fall apart without warning. Sinning now while you tell yourself how you will repent later is ridiculous! What if there is no “later?” If you knew that your next breath might be your last, how would you live?

I HAVE A NEWS FLASH FOR YOU! YOUR NEXT BREATH MIGHT BE YOUR LAST! Now, how are you going to live? James tells us that “whoever knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.” God loves us and wants us to love Him as well. God wants you to have a wonderful life, a life filles with his love and mercy and grace. And this is why God inspired James to write these words.

We all have choices, but we must choose wisely. Psalm 90:12 tells us “So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom.” Today, how will we live? Every moment, we are making decisions that may decide our eternity. Let us choose to follow hard after God all the days of our lives. Once that choice is made, we can hang on to the handles of our roller coaster lives and allow God to work.

PRAYER: Father God, thank you that you know the end from the beginning, that you are Alpha and Omega! Thank you that no matter what life holds and no matter what life throws at us, you are always with us and you will never leave us or forsake us. Lord, help us to trust you completely and to follow you whole – heartedly. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

James 4:10 – 12 “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you. Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. And if you judge the law, you are not a practitioner of the law, but a judge of it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?”

Imaging that you are in a courtroom about to witness a murder trial. There is a hushed silence as everyone waits for the judge to enter. Finally, the door to the judge’s chamber opens, and out walks … a ten year old boy! What?Is this the august judge whose wisdom and discernment will make a decision for life or death?

Nobody in his or her right mind would ever accept such a judge. Judges are supposed to have years of study and experience before they are allowed to decide even small cases such as traffic violations. Ideally, a fair – minded judge should hear all sides of a matter and weigh all the evidence before making any kind of decision. But is that how we behave?

These are the days in which someone can make one comment on social media and instantly be branded without regard to any evidence whatsoever. Wham! This person must be a racist! Pow! That person must be a bigot! Even Christians are busy judging and labeling other Christians. But is this behavior Godly behavior?

1. We are to act in humility. The verses just before this speak about the dangers of behaving arrogantly. God is the only One with all the facts and He is the only One who is qualified to judge.

2. What are our qualifications to judge the law? It’s fascinating that the same people who will argue that there are no moral absolutes will then demand that others have regard for what is right and wrong. If there are no moral absolutes, how can one judge anything? God is a just Judge, and God’s Word still stands, no matter what men may say. God is the One who decides what is right and wrong, not any earthly philosopher.

3. God is the ultimate Judge. God knows our thoughts and our intentions. God knows everything we are about to do before we do it. God knows everything about us, the good and the bad. Doesn’t it make sense that if we are going to be judged, it should be by Someone who knows us better than we know ourselves?

4. The question remains: who are you to judge your neighbor? And the answer is simple; we don’t have the necessary qualifications to judge or to condemn.

A meme just popped up on my Facebook page that is so correct: “If a backslider comes to church, and the goodness of God leads them to repentance, but all you want to do is judge them for their sins, you’re the first one that needs to be at the altar.”

When we judge and condemn, we set ourselves up in the place of God. But we are no better qualified than that ten year old entering a courtroom with no training and no experience. And the law of the Spirit remains: he who exalts himself, puffing himself up, will be humbled. He who humbles himself will be exalted. If we insist on judging and condemning others, sooner or later, we ourselves will be humiliated.

PRAYER: Father God, today we beg you to forgive us for all the times we have swiftly judged and condemned others. Many times, we were doing the same things for which we criticized these other people. Lord, help us to see our sins for what they are! Help us to confess our own sins and not to be on the lookout for the sins of others. We thank you that you are not only just but merciful and that it is only because of Jesus’ blood sacrifice on Calvary that we can ask for forgiveness and mercy. Please heal us of judging and condemning! Clean our hearts, Lord! In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

James 4:7 – 10 “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.”

Flip through YouTube channels or TV channels and you will find all kinds of teaching on how to get blessings, how to become successful, how to promote yourself! Churches even conduct leadership conferences focusing on how you can present yourself better. And TV evangelists offer us all kinds of examples of plastic characters dressed in fancy suits with cheesy smiles proclaiming that “God wants you to be rich!” But is this really what God wants?

Put that question to the author of James, and he would answer a resounding “NO! NOT ON YOUR LIFE!” Jesus also had a great deal to say on this subject; in fact, he told a story about it. Luke 18: 10 – 14 “Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all that I acquire.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

There is only one true living God. Satan was thrown out of heaven for attempting to set himself up as God. Any time we begin puffing ourselves up and preening ourselves, we are behaving in a satanic fashion and we’re setting ourselves up for disaster. Satan has been described as the “Father of Lies,” and he will tell you any lie he can, as long as he can get you to focus on your wants, your needs, your desires, rather than God’s perfect will for your life.

How do we draw near to God? “Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” God is holy and righteous. If we harbor any kind of sin in our hearts, God will not be able to stand us, nor will we be able to stand God. Each time we try to pray, that sin is going to rise up and get in the way. Oh, we might be able to mouth words, but as for real communication with God, forget it!

“Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.” HUH??? What does this mean? Do we have to be miserable before we are acceptable to God? Well, yes and no. To approach God, we must confess our sins. Christians in an earlier age prayed for the gift of tears, the ability to grieve over their sins. Our sins grieve God; they should also grieve us. On the other hand, God wants to give us “joy unspeakable and full of glory,” that is, holy joy and holy laughter, joy without any regrets. It’s like trading in a cheap plastic ring for one with gold and precious jewels – once you see the real thing, you have no taste for imitations.

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.” There is only one God. You can set yourself up as your own god, but that means there will be no room in your heart for the one true living God, the one who made you, who knows you better than you know yourself, and who loves you more than you can possibly love yourself.

So, what’s it going to be? Imitation joy or the real thing? Self- worship, or worship of the only true living God, the only One in the universe worthy of worship? The choice is yours, but choose carefully! If you choose to worship yourself, God will let you, but you will never draw close to Him and He will never draw close to you. And at the end of time, you will hear those terrible words, “Depart from me! I never knew you!”

PRAYER: Father God, help us to let go of our self – worship! Show us our sins and let us confess them! We beg you to cleanse our hearts so that we will be fit to draw near to you. And help us to humble ourselves so that you can lift us up and give us your joy. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.

James 4:4-6 (The Message) You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn’t care The proverb has it that”he’s a fiercely jealous lover.” And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find. It’s a common knowledge that “God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble.”

Here in our small northeastern Ghanaian village, we have lots of people who run around on motor cycles and motor scooters. But there’s a funny thing; many of these people seem to think that they are driving HUGE vehicles! They roar down our streets and byways, threatening to run over anybody who gets in their way. And even if they come to a junction and meet up with a big tipper truck (dump truck to you Americans), they still seem to think that they should have the right of way no matter what! Such behavior causes many of us to shake our heads. But do we try to do the same thing with God?

Many of us seem to want to go our own way, no matter the consequences. We want what we want when we want it, and we try to find ways to finagle to fulfill our desires. We want to parade as followers of God; but on the other hand, we also seem to feel that we deserve whatever we want, no matter whether or not our desire is a holy one.

God has a totally different view of this behavior; God sees all and knows all. When we behave in a manner that God cannot approve, we automatically make ourselves God’s enemies! Now, this is just as foolish as someone on a little motor scooter challenging a great big tipper truck for the right of way!

Jerry Bridges in “The Pursuit of Holiness” has this to say: God does not require a perfect, sinless life to have fellowship with Him, but He does require that we be serious about holiness, that we grieve over sin in our lives instead of justifying it, and that we earnestly pursue holiness as a way of life.” God is a fiercely jealous Lover! He wants all of our loyalty, all of our dedication! When we run off in other directions, we grieve God and only hurt ourselves. Why should we refuse to accept guidance from the One who knows us better than we know ourselves and who loves us anyway?

We have a choice: either God will be Lord over our lives or we will. But we must remember when we demand to be our own gods, that “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Our way or God’s. Which will you choose?

PRAYER: Father God, we beg you for forgiveness! So many times we have run after our own desires and have tried to gloss them over with pious words. Lord, help us to change. Help us to whole – heartedly follow after you so that we will be able to receive your grace and will not find ourselves as your enemies. In the mighty and precious Name of Jesus. Amen.

James 4:1- 3 “What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you? You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask. And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.”

It was incredible! Everyone in town was a witness! For years, Mr. O. had controlled this small town in every way imagineable – the politics, the business, the school board. There was not a single organization in town that did not have one of Mr. O.’s representatives involved and reporting to him. Mr. O. controlled prices in local stores. Mr. O. controlled teachers’ salaries. Mr. O. even controlled the amount children would pay to eat lunch at school. People who had opposed Mr. O. either gave up or left town. Years ago, Mr. O. had built himself a huge mansion on a hill overlooking the town so that he could keep an eye on everything! The only time Mr. O. would invite someone to his mansion was to complain or to insult them. No! Nobody coveted an invitation to meet with Mr. O.!

But three days ago, Mr O. had gone into the hospital with a heart attack, and this morning word had come that Mr. O. had died. Within minutes after this news hit town, someone noticed a puff of smoke lazily curling up from behind the mansion. At first, people thought someone was merely burning trash at the neighbors’ house, but soon it became obvious that Mr. O.’s mansion was burning. The local fire fighters didn’t know what to do; it seemed that two months ago, Mr. O. had picked a fight with the Fire Chief and had ordered him off his property permanently! So that morning, the fire company stood by while the mansion burned, protecting neighboring properties from stray sparks. In the end, there was nothing left apart from heaps of smoking rubble.

And what happened to those who had worked for Mr. O.? It developed that they too had become fed up. Evidently, what sparked Mr. O.’s heart attack was a fiery quarrrel with the head of his organization. This man, who had worked for Mr. O. for years, finally could no longer stomach the things Mr. O. was demanding he do. And when the organizational head quit, so did everyone else. Mr. O.’s empire for which he had struggled and cheated and lied and threatened now lay in smoking ruins, just like his mansion.

One day we will all have to stand before God to answer for the way we have lived. While few of us are likely to have done the things Mr. O. did in the story, the fact remains that all of us have sin in our lives. Nobody can say that he or she has always acted from totally clean motives. James warns us that if we ask God for something, we must be sure that we do not turn around and squander God’s resources on our pleasures. We cannot excuse ourselves by saying that we were merely doing what everyone else was doing, or that we only squandered a little bit.

Each and every one of us has a problem, and that problem is called sin. No matter how much we try to explain our motives, we can’t escape our sin nature. Jeremiah 17:9 says “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure—who can understand it?”

So, what is the answer? Is there any way of escape? Praise God, that He has made a way for us by sending Jesus Christ to die for our sins on the cross of Calvary! God has offered us an incredible gift. But we must accept that gift. We must acknowledge our sin nature and pray, confessing our sins and asking for Jesus to save us. Then we must become true disciples, doing the Word and not merely listening to it. It is quite possible to listen to all kinds of messages and watch videos on YouTube but never actually make a commitment. And it is that decision to fully follow Jesus Christ that will save us.

PRAYER: Father God, help us! We know we are stuck with our sin – natures but we don’t know how to escape. Lord, thank you for sending Jesus to die for our sins. Help us to confess those sins to you and to accept Jesus as Savior and Lord. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen!

James 3: 13 – 18 “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth. Such wisdom does not come from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap the fruit of righteousness. “

Ever have one of those days when EVERYTHING goes wrong? You fall out on the wrong side of the bed! You go to brush your teeth and realize you just squirted shaving cream onto your toothbrush. When you put milk in your morning coffee, you realize the milk passed its expiry date a LONG time ago! You hop in your car for your morning commute, only to learn that you left the lights on last night and your battery is absolutely dead! And so it goes throughout the day. There’s a favorite children’s book by Judith Viorst called “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.” Parents like to read it because they can identify with Alexander!

Sadly, when a day starts off badly, we continue to make it worse by the things we say and the way we handle ourselves. How little do we realize that we are the ones who control the emotional atmosphere immediately around us!

“Deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom…” I have practiced medicine for more than forty years, and I can tell you that the longer I continue, the more humble I become because each day I learn more about how little I know. Wise doctors are humble doctors.

Bitter jealousy and selfish ambition are deadly. Most people know that the same Coca Cola you drink has enough acid in it to clean corrosion off the terminals of a car battery. When we continually obsess about how much others have hurt us, how much we LONG to hurt others, how we are going to advance, no matter whom we crush in the process – we are pouring acid all over our souls. Have you ever seen a photo of someone with an acid burn? The tissue looks like melted wax. Harbor bitterness in your soul and your soul will be destroyed.

“But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap the fruit of righteousness. ” Want peace? Then stop focusing on evil and focus on purity. Don’t plot revenge; instead, ask yourself how you can be a person of peace in your situation. Jesus warned his disciples “Do not judge, or you will be judged. For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:1-2)

Bitterness is like a well – thrown boomerang; it will always come back. But there’s another problem with bitterness. All farmers know that when you sow a little seed, you will reap far more than you sowed in the first place. Unfortunately, the same thing is true in the spirit world: sow righteousness, and you will harvest huge amounts of righteousness. But sow hatred, jealousy, anger, and bitterness, and those too will multiply….. and come back to you multiplied many times over!

Each moment we have a choice: we can sow righteousness and peace or bitterness and hatred. And each time we make a wrong choice, we are bringing curses upon ourselves. Today, let us examine our hearts and make choices that will lead to peace.

PRAYER: Father God, help us! We want to make the right choices, but it is so easy to become angry or bitter when we are wronged. Lord, give us the power of your Holy Spirit, that we might confess every the black things that are hiding in the corners of our hearts so that you can get rid of them. Please, Lord, help us to follow hard after you all the days of our lives. We thank you that you have promised that if we sow righteousness and peace, we will reap fruits of righteousness and peace for ourselves and for those around us. In the mighty Name of King Jesus, we pray. Amen.

James 3:7 “All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8 but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, this should not be! 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers, can a fig tree grow olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”

We work in northeastern Ghana. Here many of our borehole wells have a problem; the water is clean enough, but there is a lot of sulfur in the water, causing the water to have a strange taste. Sometimes this sulfur flavor convinces people to get water from other sources that aren’t as safe. How frustrating to approach a well, thinking that you will get a drink of clear, cold, fresh – tasting water, only to find that the water is bitter!

In one of Oswald Chambers’ writings, he warns about the dangers of “spiritual measles,” a phenomenon in which we look like examplary Christians in some spots, but like reprobate sinners in others! Jesus addressed this problem when speaking with the Pharisees. Matthew 12: 33 – 37 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of his good store of treasure, and the evil man brings evil things out of his evil store of treasure. But I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

OUCH! How many times a day do we say good things to some people, only to turn around and say biting things to someone else? Even if we don’t actually curse, we can still be unkind and critical. At the end of the day, have we spoken healing and encouragement to others, or have we left a trail of lacerated feelings behind us? Are our tongues poisonous? May God help us to listen to what we are saying and to change, so that we are speaking life and health and not death!

PRAYER; Father God, we need help! We have great intentions, but our words still hurt and wound people. Lord, change our hard stony hearts for hearts of flesh, so that we will speak life and not death, encouragement and not discouragement. Help us to minister love to those around us by the words we speak. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

James 3:3 – 6 “When we put bits into the mouths of the horses to make them obey us, we can guide the whole animal. Consider ships as well. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot is inclined. In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze. The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.”

Once upon a time, the various body parts had a meeting to decide who was the most powerful part of the body. “I am!” said the Legs. “I can run and jump and do all sorts of things.” “I am,” said the Brain. “If I don’t think of something, the rest of you will have nothing to do.” “ Many of the other Body parts came up with arguments as to their own importance. Finally, there was silence. “Well,” said the Tongue, “I am not very big and I am not very strong, but whatever I say will determine what the rest of you get to do.” The rest of the Body parts agreed that the Tongue was correct.

The big on a horse’s bridle is only about 4 inches long, but it is placed next to the horse’s tongue, a very sensitive part of the body. A huge horse is controlled by a small bit. And it’s true that ships that are far larger than the ones with which James was familiar are steered successfully with relatively small rudders.

Many times it is the things that we do not say that are as important as the things that we do say. How many of us have said something, only to heartily wish later on that we had kept quiet? How many of us have added that last point to an argument, only to realize that we have just defeated ourselves?

If we are going to be true followers of God, we must watch what we say carefully and realize that there is always potential for someone to misunderstand us. One of my friends posted something on Facebook to support a certain point, only to be severely criticized by a stranger who had misunderstood the stance my friend took. At that point, explanations were useless.

The Psalmist said in Psalm 140:3 – 4 “Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch at the door of my lips. Do not let my heart be to any evil thing or take part in works of wickedness…” Let this be the prayer all of us keep before us!

PRAYER: Father God, do set a guard over our mouths and our lips! Do not allow our hearts turn to wickedness! Help us ever to speak life – giving encouragement to those around us. Thank you for your Goodness! Thank you for yoru Grace! Thank you for your Faithfulness! And thank you most of all for your Love. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

 “Don’t be in any rush to become a teacher, my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards. And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speeech was perfectly true, you’d have a perfect person, in perfect control of life.”James 3: 1 – 2 (The Message)

Why is James talking about teaching? After forcing readers to examine their actions, James is now turning to an even trickier area: our tongues and the ways in which we use them. James is introducing the challenge of the tricky tongue by mentioning a profession in which people must routinely speak thousands if not millions of words every day in front of their classes.

Want to find out how IMPERFECT you are? Just become a teacher! As soon as you stand in front of a classroom, you find yourself questioning why you are there and why you think you have anything to share in the first place. If you don’t question yourself, your students or their parents, or the community, or the school hierarchy will do it for you sooner or later! There’s nothing easy about becoming a teacher!

One of my most useful experiences was teaching Junior High General Science to four classes of eighth graders and one class of seventh graders. Five times a day, I had to get up before classes of 28 -35 twelve and thirteen year – olds and try to hold their attention. The period immediately after lunch was particularly tough, when all my students wanted to do was to descend into food comas! But just because my students did not appear to be paying attention did not mean that they were not listening to everything and that they would not repeat everything I said. No, teaching is not for the faint of heart! Had I known Eugene Peterson’s description from The Message, I would certainly have agreed with it. “ And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths.”

Why are our words so important? When I was a child, adults would quote this rhyme whenever we complained about someone insulting us at school: “Sticks and stones might break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” But that rhyme was a lie! In fact, the pain from being hit with a stick or a stone may go away quickly, but foul vicious words find their way into our spirits and can eat at our hearts forever. When my high school class was planning a reunion, one woman who was contacted responded by saying, “You didn’t care about me then, so I don’t care about you now.” How sad! This lady had been very quiet as a high school student, but someone had said something mean to her that continued to wound her.

Social media today has become a mine field of vicious comments, people responding to vicious comments, people responding to responses about vicious comments, etc. James was right; most of us get it wrong most of the time and there are no perfect people. Once something appears in print, it can be quoted and held against us. Let us be careful to make sure that our speech is salted with love.

PRAYER: Father God, help us to say only what you want us to, nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else. Help us to remember that the wounds we inflict with our tongues may be far more deadly than any other kind of wound. Help us to speak kindness and not hatred, to speak mercy and not judgement. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.

James 2:20 – 26 “O foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is worthless? Was not our father Abraham justified by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith was working with his actions, and his faith was perfected by what he did. And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God. As you can see, a man is justified by his deeds and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute justified by her actions when she welcomed the spies and sent them off on another route? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”

Back in Abraham’s day, child sacrifice was not that uncommon. Study the Old Testament, and you’ll find some grisly examples! But when God asked Abraham to offer up Isaac, this was a supreme test. Isaac was a miracle child, conceived and born when his parents were already to collect Social Security. There was never going to be another Isaac, and now God was asking Abraham to give up the one thing he treasured most. How could God be so cruel and unfair? By the time that the Jewish spies showed up at Rahab’s place in Jericho, she might have already been out of the prostitution business and dyeing material instead. (That might explain where she got the scarlet cord to hang from her window to mark her house.) But Rahab had some kind of standing in the community and now she was risking everything for the sake of these strangers. This woman must have been crazy!

 Ah, but God had better plans! The Bible tells us that God knows the end from the beginning and that God has plans for us that are far better than anything we can plan for ourselves. (Jeremiah 29:11) God was testing Abraham and Rahab to see if they would act in faith or in their own self interest, and both of them passed the test. For Abraham, there was a ram in the thicket to serve as the sacrifice. For Rahab, her actions saved her entire family. In addition, if you look at the geneologies, you realize that Rahab appears in the line that eventually led to Jesus Christ. In the “Faith Chapter,” Hebrews 11, Rahab and Abraham are both mentioned as being among the faithful.

In translating these passages, Eugene Peterson mentions the “seamless unity of believing and doing” and tells us that that is what counts with God. “It’s that mesh of believing and acting that got Abraham named “God’s friend.” Is it not evident that a person is made right with God not by a barren faith but by faith fruitful in works?” (James 2:24 The Message)

Today it has become popular to closely scruitinize and criticize others for their slightest political comments. But God has a different set of standards, and in the end, it’s God to whom we must answer. The question for us is this: Does our faith mesh with our actions? God is looking for friends all the time, but are we behaving as God’s friends or as something else and something less? Brothers and sisters, if we are going to be fruit inspectors, we need to start with ourselves!

PRAYER: Father God, please let us work the works you want us to! Let our faith and our deeds mesh in such a way that you are not ashamed to call us your friends. Help us to serve you faithfully all the days of our lives. And help us to remember that we must inspect our own fruit before turning our attention to someone else’s. Help us so to live that you can call us your friends. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.