Tag: James 1

The Blessed Hope

On By TimIn Freedom, Grace, Titus 02Leave a comment

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live soberly, righteously, and in godliness in this present world,

Titus 2:11–12

Did you ever consider… Why does the culture hate Jesus?

Look at the text. The grace of God has appeared to all humans, not just to Christians or the elect. This grace comes to all.

With the grace comes the instruction to deny ungodliness and worldly desires. Those two run together. All one has to do is find a recording of those who choose to stand up for godliness in the public square. There are plenty of Insta reels and TikToks that show this. The easy thing to discern is that people hate the reminder.

Oh, they like the idea of a loving God, sort of like a rich grandpa that does things for them and others. They say they are like Him, loving, generous, and caring for others. But listen very closely to what they say. It is difficult to not engage for more than a few minutes and see the myopic selfishness.

The biblical principle is that one becomes like the god they worship.

Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of men’s hands.
They have mouths, but they cannot speak;
eyes, but they cannot see;
they have ears, but they cannot hear;
noses, but they cannot smell;
they have hands, but they cannot feel;
feet, but they cannot walk;
neither can they speak with their throat.
Those who make them are like them;
so is everyone who trusts in them.

Psalm 115:4–8

People imagine for themselves what they think their god is like. They hate that He has told the world Who He is and what He is like. I mean, He is like no other; there is nothing comparable. Remember the one who would usurp the Most High and said, “I will be like God.” He even used the idea that God was holding something out from Eve. Her desire for the forbidden fruit was to satisfy her own selfishness.

With rampant selfishness, I would say that is the epitome of worldliness. In fact, in the King James Bible, desires is rendered as lusts. Lusts, meaning living to primarily seek to satisfy one’s own innate selfish desires without regard to anyone or anything else. At the start, it appears almost innocent, but when mature… It is a deep, deep craving.

But God made me this way!

No, He did not. He did not make you to be a slave unto death.

Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil; neither does He tempt anyone. But each man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. Then, when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin; and when sin is finished, it brings forth death.

James 1:13–15

What Paul says to Titus is that the grace of God that comes to all rubs hard against those unwilling to heed. I mean, it is painful. Think of what it would be like to rub 60-grit sandpaper on your skin.

But… Who wants to give up the fun of hook-ups?

Well, ignorance is the doorway when temptations like these come. Giving oneself to this kind of hedonism then becomes the gateway to addiction.

Who wants to turn away from the euphoria of being out of control on substances?

Again, ignorance serves as a doorway to experimentation. This is another way to give in to decadence. Where does experimentation cross over to addiction?

We can do whatever it is we want with free will… Right?

Yes, Jesus gives freedom at the cross. Licentiousness is not freedom. Hedonism does come with risk of real personal harm. Abusing substances and sexual licentiousness is not just behavioral. These involve biology, physiology, and emotions. They are deeply spiritual, too. All of this means these can bind the body, leading to addiction. There are also soul ties to consider.

Addiction brings trauma. Trauma is a gateway for demonization. The other less consider problem with addiction is that it gives way to arrogance, eventually searing the conscience.

This drives the overwhelming wave to transmute humanity. All of the special rights demands tend to transmutation, too. It is to mar the image of God that all humans bear.

But who cares?

This is where caution is needed. To think that is symptomatic of the arrogance that comes in this delusion. Thank God we Christians are not like that… Right?

Stop and think. This how this comes at people in so many ways.

What about being first in line, fastest, or the best in contests?

Ouch! Liberty is not found in licentiousness, or even becoming someone great. It is not found in satisfying the soul with the decadence and delicacies of this world. They simply cannot. Liberty is a free gift from Jesus that points us to Him.

as we await the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all lawlessness and purify for Himself a special people, zealous of good works.

Titus 2:13–14

When one chooses to live for Jesus, there are no risks. There is no losing, or really even being last. There is no condemnation in death. There is no fear or downside to righteousness. The promise is the Blessed Hope. That is, to be present with Jesus, whether by death or His glorious appearing to whisk His Own beloved home.

I will tell you, part of living soberly is to know who and Whose you are. That is, to think rightly about yourself. Yes, you are beloved. Jesus redeemed Himself a bride, purchased with His blood.

There is that great divide. His blood has stayed death, for all humans are granted liberty. That is the grace of God… That you live after you sin. Without that, nobody would have any opportunity to want to try to live rightly.

But think of those who neglect or even despise that grace. What kind of justification could one use to keep satisfying their own desires while neglecting and despising the work of Jesus?

It is not so much a future great escape by being snatched away from this world. Yes, there is one of those coming. The great escape is available right now. To any who would believe.

And Jesus says, “Sober up!”

Jesus died for you, so that you could live for Him!

A Child is Born, a Son is Given

On By TimIn Creation, Daily Walk, Encouragement, Eternal Security, Freedom, Heaven, Isaiah 09, Jesus, Prophecy, Reconciliation, Resurrection, Salvation, The CrossLeave a comment

Here’s something that has occupied the spare processing cycles in my brain when the screen saver is active. In other words, there is something that I have been considering deeply.

For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given,
and the government shall be upon his shoulder.
And his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

This is one of those memory verses I learned from years of listening to Handel’s Messiah. In that first line is a distinction that is easy to overlook. A child is born, and a son is given. It is a prophetic announcement of the birth of Jesus. A child would be born to us humans. Not just any child, but a Son would be given. That Son would be unique. This announcement clearly shows that Jesus is God, not that He came from God.

In a discussion on the Godhead I just perused, I again pondered this idea. This God-Man… This Son, or Word, that was given to us. The interesting part of the conversation prompted me to write my thoughts down and share them.

The discussion was over the Son or Word and whether saying He is begotten by God somehow darkens the idea of His existence from “eternity past.” It’s precisely what derives from the idea of being begotten means, and sort of considers the hypostatic union. That is the union of God and man that is Jesus.

I want to give a foundation from here. This is what God says of Himself in the final chapters of the Old Testament.

For I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.

Malachi 3:6 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no change or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures.

James 1:17–18 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

From these two witnesses, it is clear that God doesn’t change. The writer of Hebrews adds to this.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.

Hebrews 13:8 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

How does a God Who doesn’t change incarnate?

It sort of intrigues me that the God Who clearly says He is the same and doesn’t change somehow put on humanity.

It is precisely that idea that I think is too simplistic of an explanation. If He puts on humanity, He changes. Or maybe that doesn’t count as a change.

God has a Unique Relationship with Humans

I think it goes back to something foundational.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Genesis 1:26–27 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

This idea of God making us in His image. What is that, really?

I know one of my favorite Bible nerds says we are imagers. Meaning we get to make God known to others in unique ways.

What if this image is something profound, like it is something that is really a part of God?

No… I am not drifting off into pantheism or panentheism.

I’m not saying we are God. Yet there is something more here. When you read the Bible, you’re going to read some things that you might be tempted to glance over.

Beloved, now are we children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

1 John 3:2 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

There is something so spectacular reserved for humanity. It cannot be put into words.

For those whom He foreknew, He predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified.

Romans 8:29–30 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

It’s this imager-thing. We are made in His image initially and will be conformed to His image. There are other texts that reiterate these ideas, like being a joint-heir with Jesus.

Jesus even spoke of this in some of His last words before the crucifixion.

I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You. May they also be one in Us, that the world may believe that You have sent Me. I have given them the glory which You gave Me, that they may be one even as We are one: I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfect in unity, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

John 17:20–23— Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

I don’t think we can even begin to ponder what is in store for each of us who loves Jesus.

Naked Meets Crafty

On By TimIn Genesis 02, The Fall1 Comment

They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Genesis 2:25 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?”

Genesis 3:1 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

They were both nude. The serpent, though, was shrewd. The wordplay in that summation hints at the wordplay that exists in the Hebrew behind our Bible translations.

The word translated as naked is the Hebrew arummim. In the next sentence, the word translated as subtle is the Hebrew arum. Maybe it is an entertaining way to convey a recount of what had really happened. Maybe there is something more.

The enemy had no way to directly curse these first humans. Just as the crafty wordplay is presented. It helps us pay attention to the next sentence in which he subtly changes the words God had said to Adam.

“Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

Genesis 2:16b–17 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

Instead of it being a generous offering as God intended, the serpent inserted his own wordplay. He wanted it perceived as perhaps God depriving them of something. He changed the command to highlight one thing set aside: “Has God said, ‘You shall not?'” The idea of deprivation comes in the context following. We can clearly see that for whatever reason, Eve gives in to this crafty idea of deprivation. She even added to it.

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit from the trees of the garden; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You will not eat of it, nor will you touch it, or else you will die.'”

Genesis 3:2-3 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

We can’t even touch it. God didn’t say that. Now that she had bought into the idea of deprivation, he pushes her even further. God really is keeping something from you. Don’t worry about dying. When you eat, you’ll be like gods, knowing how to fix that.

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that on the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Genesis 3:4-5 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

Death comes because of calamity.

These first — innocent humans weren’t acquainted with death, having never experienced it. God was protecting them from calamity and death.

It’s like that for us. The enemy wants us to think that God is keeping good things from us. It’s not true. We see from yesterday’s post on James 1:5 that God gives lavishly to us, just as He did to Adam and Eve. He gave them every tree from which to eat. He gave them the tree of life that would keep them alive forever. All of that was good, but the enemy pointed out the one thing God said they couldn’t have. He made it sound as if what God was keeping them from was something good.

Considering our world and all the calamity that exists in it, would you rather not know calamity than experience it?

I would rather not have to experience it.

Did God really set us up to fall for something that was not good for us?

No.

But each man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. Then, when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin; and when sin is finished, it brings forth death.

James 1:14-15 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this subtle lie from the enemy — that God may be depriving us of something — has given way to the deprivation we humans demonstrate.

After all, it was just a subtle idea. One that would lead Eve to want to satisfy her own felt needs. It led the unashamed to desire something that wasn’t theirs. It drew her eyes away. She saw that what really wasn’t intended to be good for food as something to eat. She did and gave it to the man, and he ate.

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasing to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Genesis 3:6-7 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

The rest of this we all know. The one thing God had said would happen did. Death came because we had set ourselves apart from the source of life. Our parents deprived us of the only life that matters.

The LORD God said, “The man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. And now, he might reach out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.

Genesis 3:22-23 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

Believing is Seeing

On By TimIn Daily Walk, James 01Leave a comment

I was having a discussion with someone today. This person, though Christian, had not really discovered the gifts God has bestowed upon her. She understood the gift of salvation… But there is so much more!

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally and without criticism, and it will be given to him.

James 1:5 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

God wants us to ask! Here, James is talking about wisdom. Wisdom is a gift from God, and it can be yours. Whatever it is, if you need help in making a wise decision, the first place to go is God.

Here, God promises to lavish us. It’s for all men. This is easily discerned by Jesus’ finished work on the cross. The Apostle John writes to us that Jesus is the propitiation, the appeasement to God, for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:1-2.) Paul speaks of it, too, in 2 Corinthians 5:16-21. He tells us that God in Christ is reconciling the world to Himself. It’s a gift He has given to all of us.

There’s more.

James writes that God gives without criticism. Perhaps that is better understood as without reproach. He isn’t holding things back from us… really. We don’t get it because we don’t ask.

Maybe you don’t believe.

I get that. There were lots of things I didn’t understand. But what I do know is that God will not give us something so that we can finally believe it is real. We have to believe it is real so that we can have it. Believing is seeing. It works like that without salvation. God said it. You believed it. And your account was settled. Praise God!

Let James encourage you…

But let him ask in faith, without wavering. For he who wavers is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed with the wind. Let not that man think that he will receive anything from the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.

James 1:6–8 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

We ask… In faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. We must first believe that He is and that He rewards those that seek Him (Hebrews 11:6.) This is how those patriarchs of old obtained a good reputation. It’s the same for you and me.

Believe God. Don’t fret that you aren’t worthy of gifts. Don’t fret that you don’t meet His expectations. He knows these things. His promise still stands. He is the Faithful One. You can trust His Word. The one who asks in faith receives.

Ask rightly.

Our intentions in asking for gifts from God must be in light of using them to serve Him and others. It’s our calling. We are to esteem others better than ourselves. Their well-being ought to be more important than ours.

James says it this way…

Where do wars and fights among you come from? Do they not come from your lusts that war in your body? You lust and do not have, so you kill. You desire to have and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have, because you do not ask. You ask, and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your passions.

James 4:1–3 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

Ask… In faith.

Then set out to serve others, knowing your Heavenly Father is Good and keeps His promises.