Bona Fide- A Study Of James- Part 3- "The Jake Spoon Syndrome" Series

Bona Fide

A study of James

Genuine Christian Living

Part 3

“The Jake Spoon Syndrome”

James 1:5-8

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

As we continue our series through he book of James this morning

We come to a passage of scripture that I have spent quite a bit of time

Studying

Reading

Contemplating

And asking God for guidance to fully understand

James moves from the topic of overcoming pressure

As we studied last week

To the topic of wisdom

And then quickly to a topic that if we move to quickly does not seem to fit here

But as we slow down

And

Read James in context

Connecting the dots

We will see that it all ties in together

To show us how to live the Bona Fide

Christian Life

Last week we spent the entire time I am blessed to get to spend with you talking about trials

Temptations

Wrecks

Storms

What we referred to as pressure

And we began looking at several ways that the Bona Fide

Believer

Those who look at trouble as a chance to grow

As a chance to walk closer to God

A Joy- James says

Stand a much better chance at withstanding the pressure

The bend test

And developing endurance

Perseverance

And

Truly finding that joy that we all should be seeking

So verse 8 gives us yet another tool for becoming

Bona Fide

Wisdom

We know that there are two types of wisdom In this world

God’s wisdom

And the worlds

Wisdom

To become Bona Fide we must trust in God’s wisdom

As anything else will fail us when we need it most

You may have heard me or maybe someone else say this before

But

Listen

God always answers prayer

He says Yes- No – or wait

But did you know that there are two prayers that he always answers yes to?

The first is the prayer of salvation

God says all who call on the name of Jesus will be saved

When someone comes to God with a truly repentant heart

And cries out for salvation

Places their faith and trust in Jesus for that salvation

God willingly

Joyfully

Says in cowboy terms

Here you go!

The other is Wisdom

Look back at verse 5 with me

James 1:5

“If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.”

If you need wisdom

Not the worlds messed up idea of wisdom

But true life changing wisdom

Ask God

And he WILL

Give it to you

James

Goes on to say he will not rebuke you for asking

You ever ask someone for something

Or ask them a question

And you get what you wanted

Or the answer you wanted

But they made you feel like an idiot for asking?

James says God does not do it like that

He says to ask and he will give it without reproach- without correction

Without rebuking you

In simple terms without making you feel stupid for asking

So like I said

Last week we talked about pressure and overcoming pressure

And this week James shows us that it is God’s wisdom that helps us get that done

Remember I told you that the world does not in its wisdom see trouble as a reason to rejoice

But God Does

We are going to spend a lot of time on wisdom

God’s verses the worlds in a few weeks when we get to chapter 3

But for today

I want to concentrate on verses 6-8

Please open your bibles back up to James 1:6-8

6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

Notice James starts out with that word that we sometimes love to hate

But

He says

Ask God for wisdom and he will give it to you

Without making you feel like an idiot

But

But

Make sure your faith is in God alone