Practical Christianity: James 1:1-4
Welcome to "Practical Christianity," a new series on the book of James.
Who Wrote the Book of James?
The book of James was written by James, the brother of Jesus. He was the leader of the church in Jerusalem. James doesn't identify himself as Jesus' brother in the letter, but we do believe that's who wrote this book.
James identifies himself as a slave of God in the book. The Greek word for slave here is "doulos", which translates to servant. They understood what it meant to have a master. They understood what it meant to call somebody Lord and have to do what they said. Not only that, they had the example of Jesus as to what it meant to be a servant leader.
Trials and Troubles
James writes this letter to Jewish believers scattered abroad. When the good news of Jesus spread, many people were persecuted for their faith, which caused them to scatter across the known world.
James 1:2 says, "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity." When the trials come - not if - consider these troubles an opportunity. We will all face different kinds of troubles in our lives. Some troubles will be the normal life troubles that everyone in the world faces, like the death of a loved one, or personal troubles like a car breaking down.
Some troubles we will face as Christians. As Christians, we have decided that we're following Jesus and we're going to walk the way He has called us to walk, which is a walk that shuns sin. We all struggle with sin. Sometimes our troubles that we face are a direct result of our sin.
Some troubles come because we take a stand for Jesus. Stephen took a stand for Jesus. His trial was, "Are you going to be faithful?" Stephen chose to be faithful, and what happened to him? He got stoned. But you know what? That made such an impression on Saul that later that became part of his overall testimony about what he used to do and then how God transformed him to be the person that he ended up becoming.
Opportunities in Trials
Here are the opportunities we have when we face trials:
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Joy is our attitude. Change your outlook, because your outlook shapes your attitude. When I am in trouble, the last thing that I want to do is be joyful. Or you may think, "I've been beaten down in my life. Can I have joy?" We all have choices on how we approach these things. James is saying and encouraging us to change our outlook.
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Our faith is tested. Our faith can't be tested unless we have faith in Jesus. Trials will come, and they are coming. So prepare now by getting on your knees and praying, by spending time in the Word, by spending time with other people that are going to encourage you and build you up, saying you've got this and not only do you have this, but God has it.
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Our endurance will grow. You must put in the work. As our faith grows, we need to abide in Jesus. John 15:5-8 says, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." As we spend more time with God, our thoughts start to align with the way God thinks. Endurance develops over time. Just like physically we have to build up our endurance, spiritually we have to build up our endurance as well.
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Complete maturity. Once we are spiritually mature in our faith, nothing more is required. When you mature in your faith, you start to think and act more like Christ. This doesn't mean that we're going to be perfect until Jesus comes again. Our maturity is perfect and complete, not that we are perfect. Once we are spiritually mature in our faith, there is nothing more that's required for our salvation.
Conclusion
So how are you handling your trials and troubles? Hopefully you are seeing where you're growing in your walk with Jesus. Hopefully you're seeing where God has worked in your life to help you get through each and every one of those trials.
