James 1:1

James 1:1 I, James, am a slave of God and the Master Jesus, writing to the twelve tribes scattered to Kingdom Come: Hello! Faith Under Pressure (The Message)

Having spent all that time yesterday looking at verse 2, I was drawn back to verse 1. Of course, if I had been doing this logically, one step at a time, in order and so on, then I would have actually read verse 1 properly and never have moved onto verse 2 yesterday! It is curious how you can literally skip verses in the bible and think you have read them when really, you haven't even noticed the words at all.

So, verse 1. James introduces himself in this verse, and we find out who he is writing to and who he is. So who is James? Well, there are apparently four candidates for this:

• James the Less, son of Alphaeus, one of the disciples (see Matthew 10:3);
• James the father of Judas (not Iscariot). Judas was one of the disciples and also known as Thaddeus (Matthew 10:3 and Luke 6:16);
• James the son of Zebedee, brother to John (both John and James were disciples, (see Matthew 4:21)); and
• James the oldest half brother of Jesus (Mark 6:3)

I've been reading about this and apparently, no one has seriously considered that it was either James the Less or James the father of Judas but I can't see why they never seriously considered it (and enquiring minds want to know!). James, the brother of John, was one of the earliest Christian martyrs after Stephen and was thought to have been killed in AD44, when there was a wave of persecution against the church by Herod Agrippa noted in Acts 12:1. Interesting to read that Herod Agrippa's sister was Herodias, the wife of Herod who was responsible for the death of John the Baptist (see Mark 6:17-28).

So the odds are that it was James, the brother of Jesus who initially rejected Jesus as the Messiah. I mean, you can understand that. After all, he grew up with Jesus, Jesus was his big brother, and you really don't expect your big brother to turn out to be the Messiah. You would have played with him, teased him, taken the mickey, tried to pull tricks on him, got angry with him, loved him, hated him, just as most siblings do to each other. So obviously, when someone comes along and says your brother is the Messiah, sent by God, how can you believe it?

James came to faith after the resurrection and became a leader of the early Church (Acts 12:17, 15:13, 21:18), one of the elders. It is thought he wrote this book to believers who were scattered after the persecution of the church in AD 44.

Depending upon which translation you use, he is either a slave or a servant or bond-servant of God. So exactly what is a bond servant? This is not just your common or garden servant, or slave. Oh no, this is someone who has been a slave and after their years of service are up, voluntarily stays with his master. Hebrew slaves could only serve for six years and had to be released in the seventh year. However, slaves could remain in servitude voluntarily , through love for their master. In this case, the master had to present them before God, take the slave to the door or doorpost and publicly pierce his ear with an awl (nice, eh?) and then the man would serve the master for life (see Exodus 21:2 -6).

So James is saying that he is a servant of God, someone who has decided voluntarily to spend the rest of his life serving God. This is not something you undertake lightly, a decision to be made when you have had one pint too many, when you feel obliged or want something in return. Slaves do not get anything in return. In fact, being a slave could be a really awful existence if you had a cruel master, so it is not a decision to rush into.

Yet James (and Paul, Peter, John and the other writers and disciples) gladly made this choice. What is it about God that makes people want to serve him, to follow His Son and makes other hate his very name, deny his existence, spend their lives trying to prove there is no God? If you don't know, then you don't know God, my God, the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Creator, the Father of all, the great I AM, Jehovah- Jirah, Jehovah-nisi, the Lord God Almighty. Take a look around you as God is all around, everywhere you look. He is in the love I see in my husband's eyes, in the hugs from my children. He is in the sound of the birds singing in the morning and in the rain that is falling outside as I type these words. He is in the sun, the moon, the stars, in the trees, the flowers, in the air that I breathe and He is in my heart. Do you know my God?

So James is a servant, a slave of God and is writing to those Jews who had been scattered during the persecution of the church. These believers were spread around the Roman world, in Rome, Alexandria, Cyprus, in Greece and Asia Minor. Depending upon where they lived, many would have been suffering persecution, so this letter was written to encourage them , to help them grow in their faith and to teach them.

But his letter is just as relevant today as it was when he wrote it 2,000 years ago. You only have to look around the world to realise that persecution of the church is still here. There have been more Christians martyred for their faith in the last century than on the whole 2,000 years since the death of Christ. In certain countries of the world (Eritrea is a prime example), to sing praise to Jesus is enough to get you thrown into prison. Look at India, where Christians have been burnt alive in their homes by mobs, or in Nigeria, where there were brutal killings earlier in the summer. Even in this country, there is persecution, Christianity is being sidelined and marginalised as people seek to be politically correct and to give rights to all faiths and all life styles.

So this letter is just as applicable to each one of us as it was to the persecuted church back in AD44. It was written by a man who knew what it was to deny Jesus was the Messiah, a man who had known him intimately, and a man who came to a strong faith after the death and resurrection of Jesus and who was one of the elders and leaders of the church in Jerusalem.

I love the way the Message translates this verse "hello faith under pressure"! If our faith is not under pressure in this day and age, then I don't know what it is. So take heart from reading this book, learn from what James has to say about living the Christian life, and let your faith be demonstrated by your works.

James chapter 1

James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds

I started reading this chapter, thinking I would be able to whip through it, jot down some notes and then get on with everything else I have to do today. After all, I thought, I've read this book several times before, it’s all about the tongue, about watching what we say, having our faith demonstrated through our works and about the need for prayer. So I started reading chapter 1 and got as far as verse 2……

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.

Now that brought me to a complete standstill. I can't remember how many times I have read this verse and thought "oh, yeh, right, joy, uh huh, yep, I know that, joy in the time of trouble, sure" but today, it brought me to a complete halt as if God was saying, "Hang on, wait a minute, read this and actually realise what I am saying here". Because joy is not an automatic response for me when things go wrong, when the children misbehave, when my husband is still so very depressed I don't know what to do, when I haven't the money to pay the bills and have so much work on that I sit at my desk and don't know where to start.

In the Message, it actually says "Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. " Woah! Consider it a sheer gift…well, I don't know about you, but gift is the last word I would use when I have no money or when my already busy schedule is overloaded even more 'cos I have to take care of things hubbie can't do due to his illness…Yet that is exactly what God is telling us here through James. And not only that, but it is a case of when troubles come, not if troubles come. Something to look forward to, eh?

It is a case of not just putting on a brave face, smiling grimly through everything, pretending everything in the garden is rosy when people ask you how you are, telling everyone you are fine. "Fine" is the Christian f-word that is used as a substitute instead of telling others how things really are. Instead, we are to look upon our trials, the tribulations as a good thing because of what it can develop in our character, in our faith. After all, how can we learn to really trust God if only good things happen to us? How can we strengthen our faith if we never have any times of testing, if there is never anything that goes wrong or if we never experience the bad things in life?

These are not easy words. After all, who wants to get cancer, who wants to be made bankrupt, lose their job, suffer the death of a family member, a close friend? But we need to get real. Bad things happen in life. There is a recession, there will be job cuts and you may be one of the ones getting the axe. Death comes to each one of us sooner or later. Money is tight and even more so in a recession. Illness happens and sometimes people are healed but often they are not. Babies die, and some of us lose them even before they are born. Life is not easy.

But these verses are telling us to trust in God, to put everything in His hands, to rely on Him and not our own capabilities and not only that, but to be joyful with it. After all, whilst for God all things are possible, sometimes we do not get our dearest wish, our problems are not resolved, and no matter how much faith we have, we do not get rich, we don't have that fancy car, those designer clothes, that new house. What we have is not dependent upon our level of faith, with those who have more faith having a bigger bank balance. If it was a case of having more material possessions if we had more faith, then what does that say about the Christians in Africa who are living in extreme poverty, with little money, no regular 9 to 5 job, little food and are struggling to even have clean water? Yet they have such a strong faith and they are seeing miracles, the dead are being raised, people are healed and God is moving amongst them, despite the poverty, the persecution, the hardships. They count it as joy to suffer as they do.

And us, what do we do? We moan, we complain, we grumble. Not exactly an advert for the joys of Christianity, is it? We are told by Paul to count it as joy when we suffer for Christ:

Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

As Christians, we should be known by our love, not by our whinging, our moaning and groaning, our despondency. After all, we have the promise of eternal life, or riches beyond measure in heaven and the knowledge that all we go through here on earth is but temporary. Yes, we have bad times, times that see never ending when it is just one thing after another and that anything and everything that could go wrong does. But take a look at the disciples, they were crucified, killed by the sword, had their heads chopped off, people tried to boil them in oil and they were exiled. Every one of the disciples was killed for his faith except John. Yet their letters are all filled with joy, with encouragement, with hope and their faith shouts loud and strong. I want a faith like that, one that remains strong (or in my, case becomes strong) no matter what life throws at me. A faith that is unshakeable no matter what the consequences and one that is such that my life is filled with joy, no matter what adversities I may be going through.

I pray today that in all circumstances and at all times, we may each have joy in our hearts, a song of praise on our lips, and a faith that daily grows stronger and stronger.

Where to go, what to do?

Ok, I realise it has been sometime since I updated this but life has been busy. We went on holiday to the Lake District, and then when we returned, I was busy with work, designing and all sorts.

I've had a break from journalling, but am about to start again, I just need to see which book. I could carry on with the OT as I already have a fair bit journalled earlier in the year, but I'm feeling very strongly that I should go with a book from the New Testament and do it from scratch rather than just copy and paste what I already have in OneNote.

And as you probably weren't aware, I use Microsoft Onenote which is a brilliant program for note taking, research, screen shots, copying pages from the internet and all sorts. I reckon Microsoft just do not market that program as well as they could do - I'd be lost without it!

Anyhow, as far as journalling is concerned, I'll be back later this week with the first chapter but I don't know what book yet! Oh, the anticipation, the suspense!

Exodus 40

34 Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

35 Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

I just love these verses. Imagine being right there when the Tabernacle was finished and everything was in place, and Moses comes rushing out because he is unable to stay in the Tabernacle any longer because the glory of the Lord is filling the whole place! That would have been a sight to behold!

But so often today, we fail to see or feel the presence of God in our midst. God may not be present in such a way that the church is filled with the glory of His presence on a Sunday morning and we all have to leave the building because there is no room. But have you ever felt the presence of God in your life? The times when you just know that He has His arms around you or is close by your side? When you feel that all you have to do is reach out and you would be able to touch Him? Jesus said that when two or three gather in His name, there He will be. So all it takes is for two people to believe and Jesus will be right there with you.

I just think that is so awesome, so amazing, so humbling, to know that when we really truly believe, that God will be right there with us. It puts a whole different perspective on worship on a Sunday morning when you remember that - because God could be standing right next to you when all you are thinking about is that long to do list, what went on in the week, whether the children are behaving themselves or not, if you should go talk to so and so after the service, and whatever else may be filling your mind other than praise and worship!

Exodus 39

42 The Israelites had done all the work just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

43 Moses inspected the work and saw that they had done it just as the LORD had commanded. So Moses blessed them.

This is about talking and listening to God.

Moses had, if you like, the hotline to God. He listened to God, heard what He had to say and acted upon it. He then relayed what God had said to the Israelites. They listened and then went and did as God instructed.

It is very easy today to sit back and let everyone else in church do things. To tell ourselves that God never speaks to us, that He isn't interested in our prayers (especially not when A, B or C are right there praying), that what we do doesn't matter to God because in the overall scale of things, we are so small, so insignificant that God couldn't possibly be interested or really care. But really, when we listen to the little voice inside us telling us this, we are listening to the lies of the enemy and we are allowing him a foothold that could very soon become a stronghold in our minds and bodies.

God made each one of us unique, special, and He has a task for each one of us that no one else can do. We may feel small, insignificant, but God has counted the hairs on our head, we are fearfully and wonderfully made in His image, and He loves each one of us so much more than we could ever begin to imagine.

And it is just the same with the Israelites then as it is with us now. They could easily have sat back and let others do all the work, give all the gold, silver, precious jewels and cloth, telling themselves that so and so was a better seamstress, jeweller, potter, bronze caster (or whatever the word is!) , and so on. But each one gave as he or she felt led, and helped with the building of the Tabernacle.

Moses too could have sat back, told himself he was imaging hearing God and having all those detailed instructions given to him, but he was faithful to listen, to obey, to pass the details on.

They needed the right design for the Tabernacle, and they needed teamwork to get the Tabernacle finished. God empowered each one of them from Moses right down to the ones who felt they could only give time, or help making the refreshments rather than craft all the tools and equipment, sew the Tabernacle itself.

The church is a body of believers and we all have our part to play. What part are you playing in your church, or are you sitting back and letting everyone else volunteer first?

Exodus 38

21 These are the amounts of the materials used for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the Testimony, which were recorded at Moses' command by the Levites under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest.

It is interesting here how others are mentioned. God didn't give Moses the detailed instructions for the building of the Ark and then expect Moses to do it all himself. Nope, this was a team effort made up of men (and women) with different skills, different abilities, and all the people were called upon to give from their hearts to supply all the raw materials. Everyone had a part to play.

It's like the story of a little boy who went to school all excited because they were handing out the parts for the school play. His mother knew he probably wouldn't get a part and was ready for tears when she collected him from school. But her son came out all smiles and laughter, because he had been given one of the most important parts of all - to watch and clap.

God does not leave us to do things on our own. If we have been called, we will be equipped for the task, and that includes having the people around us to help out.

Exodus 37

In this chapter, Bezalel makes:

• The Ark of the Covenant from wood and overlays it with gold inside and out;
• The cover for the Ark from pure gold;
• Poles for the Ark and overlays them with gold;
• A table of acacia wood overlaid with gold and with a gold moulding around the edge;
• Cast 4 gold rings and attached them to the table;
• Special containers (bowls, pans, jars and pitchers) to be used in the pouring out of liquid offerings;
• A lampstand from pure hammered gold and all its decorations;
• 7 lamps for the lampstand;
• Lamp snuffers (pure gold);
• Trays (pure gold);
• Incense altar from acacia wood overlaid with gold and with a gold moulding around the entire altar;
• 2 gold rings and attached them to the altar to hold the carrying poles;
• Poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold;
• Sacred anointing oil and fragrant incense.

So Bezalel here is working with wood, gold, and raw materials for the incense and oil. HE has a lot of work to do and he has the skills to enable him to do the best possible job. He is a skilled craftsman and carpenter, since he carves out the wood and overlays everything with gold; he is also a perfumer since he can create the sacred anointing oil and incense. He is a man of many talents, and he has been gifted by God with the skills to enable him to do the tasks for which he ahs been called.

In the same way, God has gifted each one of us with the skills we need to carry out the tasks He has called us for. We may think we have not been called to do anything, after all, we are just ordinary people, just trying to make a living, pay the bills, feed and care for the family. We're nothing special, nothing out of the ordinary. But God has called each one of us. We are hand picked by God, even though we may feel left out on the rubbish pile half the time, used, abused and taken advantage of. We are children of the King, co-heirs with Christ and we have each got certain jobs to do for God. We may refuse to do them, we may not know what they are, we may relish every moment or dread each morning.

But no matter who we are, what we have done, what our normal everyday life is like, you can be certain that just like Bezalel, we have been called by God and given the necessary skills for the job. We may only have been called to put the chairs out on Sunday morning before the church service, but we will have been given the necessary chair putting out skills! We may have the gift of hospitality, being able to make people feel welcome, because we have been called to help the lost, the hurting, the insure and the uncertain come to know God. We may be great orators and have been called to preach, teach and so on. We may be called to lead Sunday school, and have a gift for getting on with children.

Whatever our calling, we can rest assured that God will provide all that we need, even when we are convinced that we are not up to the task.