The Book of James

I have been studying the book of James for about two months now. WOW! What an eye opening experience… I said to a parishioner the other day that I feel like God has been dissecting me. This “Spiritual dissecting” isn’t a comfortable thing but it is necessary to perfect me through Christ. Let me explain; we are born with all of this sinful junk inside of us called “original sin.” When we become saved we still have sin in our lives, through salvation it becomes “Forgiven sin.” For many years now Christians have been taught to walk around pretending this sin wasn’t there. So instead of dealing with it we tend to hide it and pray that nobody ever finds it… Well eventually, what has been hidden is surfaced! Amen? The book of James teaches us how to deal with this sinful nature within ourselves and in others.

The book starts off by teaching us that when we are tempted, turn to God. (James chapter 1:1-27) Notice I said when we are temped not if. We are all tempted to do wrong, remember it’s our nature. The task at hand is to learn to destroy our nature and follow God’s Nature. James chapter two instructs us not to favor rich people over poor. WOW, what a lesson for today’s church! This chapter goes on to teach us that our actions demonstrate our Faith. Let me be very clear, our Salvation is FREE, Jesus paid the price for us, and you will NEVER have to work to earn your spot in Heaven. Just receive the Gift of Jesus from God the father. But it’s our day to day actions that will build or destroy our Faith and our testimony to others! Remember it is not always what you say but most of the time the true testimony comes from what you’re doing and who you’re being…

Next James teaches us how to speak wisely and the power of the Tongue….

James 3:9-12 God’s Word

9 With our tongues we praise our Lord and Father. Yet, with the same tongues we curse people, who were created in God’s likeness. 10 Praise and curses come from the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, this should not happen! 11 Do clean and polluted water flow out of the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree produce olives? Can a grapevine produce figs? In the same way, a pool of salt water can’t produce fresh water.


The biggest lie that the Devil ever sold us is the proverb that says, “Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me…” Over the past years I have ministered to so many individuals that had been attacked with words. Our tongue is like a two edged sword that slices both ways. Let’s learn to watch what we say and how we say it. The book of James goes on to talk about how to deal with each other and how to address conflicts in a Godly manner. And I love that way the book ends, by instructing us to be patient at all times.

James 5:7-9 God’s Word

7 Brothers and sisters, be patient until the Lord comes again. See how farmers wait for their precious crops to grow. They wait patiently for fall and spring rains. 8 You, too, must be patient. Don’t give up hope. The Lord will soon be here. 9 Brothers and sisters, stop complaining about each other, or you will be condemned. Realize that the judge is standing at the door.

I hope today’s BLOG has wetted your appetite to read the Book of James. But more so, I pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to guide us and teach us to live God centered lives until we get to eternity!

Pastor H