James 1:9-10
Let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his elevation (As a follower of Christ, called to the true riches and to be an heir of God).
And the rich (person ought to glory) in being humbled (by being shown his human frailty), because like the flower of the grass he will pass away.
We are continuing to make our way through the book of James @ Vineyard ReCovery. This book is one of the corner stones to the Big Book of A.A.
Founded upon the Book of James, I Corinthians 13 (The love chapter), and the Sermon on the Mount, we are given the blueprint for moving forward in life after having turned will and life over to the care of God.
The book of James opens with something that runs contrary to the pulse of our society and culture. James instructs us that when we are enveloped in, or encounter trials of any sort, or fall into various temptations (according to the Amplified Bible), we should rejoice.....be wholly joyful. You won't find this info anywhere else. Rejoice? Really? Yep!
Because there is a greater work taking place in our hearts, our nature, and our character. Verse two tells us, "Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of our faith brings out endurance and steadfastness and patience." All of which are qualities that we are unable to bring to bear in our own life as we move forward in our recovery. God does for us what we are unable to do for ourselves.
Then James goes on to make a bodacious statement to end all statements.
But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be perfectly and fully developed (with no defect) lacking in nothing. James tells us that our old way of handling problems has now changed. We are no longer to follow the dictates of our flesh/sin nature, where we cut and run to get high every time something uncomfortable comes at us. Because we are a vessel that not contains the Holy Spirit of God, alive and working in us, we are to dig our heels in and allow God to do His stuff.
Last night we moved into verses nine and ten James chapter one.
Here we see James addressing two different parts of his society that are still around today. The poor.......and the rich. We usually look to these as being complete opposites of the spectrum. You couldn't get any farther apart than these two. Yet James is showing us part of the new economy of heaven we have been called to move by. Society labels people....Culture seeks to define men and women more by what they do and do not have, than who they are in the eyes of God.
James calls for the poor guy to boast about being lifted up by Christ....
The rich man is called to boast about being humbled in his life.
The two are brought together on the equal ground of salvation life in Christ.
Neither defined by what the have, or do not have...
No longer defined by class, they have been brought to the place where we all can truthfully say, "We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."
The devil wants to divide....he does not want us to see the reality that we all were created as image-bearers of the One True Living God. So the devil creates tension and trouble by dividing people along racial boundaries. He divides us along class boundaries, and lastly, he divides us along "religious" boundaries. Any time the devil can stir the pot, we become open and susceptible to falling for his lies. James says that we need to keep our eyes on Christ and find our true nature and place in Him. I concur with old James assumption. Wise man that James.
Until tomorrow...
God on you...
mbb
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