A Life Worth Living
James 1:3-8
* There is a story of two garment workers in New York City. One was a cutter and one was a stitcher. They were working side by side. They got to talking about vacations. One said he was looking forward to his vacation and the other said he was not going on a vacation this year. The question was asked, “Why?” “I went to Africa last year. I went elephant hunting.” “Did you get any elephants?” “No, I found an elephant. He charged me, but my gun was jammed, & I was killed.” The cutter gave a stunned look at his friend and said, “What are you talking about, you was killed? You aren’t dead. You’re sitting here living!” And the other fellow looked down at his scissors, looked across at the needle and fabric in his friend's hands and replied: “You call this living?”
* Jesus said, “I am come that you might have life and have it to the “full.” That means in Him we can not only have a life but we can really “LIVE.”
* As we have seen, James (the half-brother of Jesus) points his reader to take a look at the difficult life they were living and to understand how God was using those difficulties to make them into what HE wanted them to be. The ‘scattered saints’ to whom James was writing were experiencing a great deal of persecution. Trial, testing, and troubles on every hand were filling their lives and as a result, they were having problems understanding what was happening and they were having difficulties praying for God to give the understanding to what all of this meant. Quite likely, they were becoming discouraged and some it may seem were coming to the point of ‘giving up.’ Is this all there is?
* Some of us would understand this type of thinking. Is this all there is? Is my life going to continue being so difficult? Is it really worth it? How do I learn from this? Possibly some would say, ‘is this life really worth living?’
* If this question has even just flashed across your mind, would you hear the words of James which were inspired by God? James has just said, “Count it pure joy when you experience various trials, because the purpose of these trials is to test your faith and produce endurance.” Don’t ever pray for patience, endurance, or fortitude unless you are ready for a struggle because God does very little preaching, generally He will take you to the classroom of experience. A trial in God’s hand is a divine tool to develop us into a mature, complete, person who lacks nothing. Let’s think about this truth in 2 thoughts;
1. The Desire of God for you. – God has big plans for you! Now, it may not be ‘big’ in the eyes of the world, conversely it may only be big in the eyes of God. (God has a different rating system than the world) But the question is, ‘who do you want to live large for? The world or the creator?”
* Candidly, what God desires for you is more than anything this world can give you. Look at what James tells us that God wants us to be.
a) To be secure – Can you think of anyone who does not desire security? To be insecure is to be unsure, to be unsure is to be uncertain, and to be uncertain is to be ineffective. HCSB translates the word ‘mature.’ Never forget “Immaturity breeds Insecurity.” Think about response of the child who is so immature that every time mom leaves the room or when they don’t get their way or it’s not happening quickly enough for them, they ‘throw a fit.” Much of the time, in their immaturity these children show their insecurity. Some of us are too old to remember the fright of being in a room full of strangers and losing sight of dad. Yet, as we mature, we come to a place of understanding that dad only love us when he is in the room, but he loves us no matter what his geography. When we move from pre-adolescence toward maturity we find ourselves being secure. Spiritually speaking, James has just taught us about trials and how God uses those trials to bring us to maturity. What is one mark of maturity? It goes by several names, endurance, patience, or even steadfastness. The truly mature person can be counted on to be patient and understanding every time! Why can a person be patient when he is mature? Because he is secure in who and whose he is. By the way, the Greek word for maturity also means ‘brought to its end.’
b) To be strong – Almost everyone wants to be strong. We want to have strong bodies, minds, and hearts. When we are healthy, we expect to be strong. The word we read is the word, “Complete” which means “whole.” If you start a building and a mild storm comes in the midst of the process, it could be that the house is blown away. However, when completed, that same structure may well stand the strain of hurricane force winds, when house was completed and whole. The same is true in our life. No life is worth living if it can be blown around by every wind and whim. Furthermore, it is not God’s desire for us to be ‘pawns’ on the chessboard of life. He wants us to be complete. I’ll suggest that one of the possible reasons which has historically made Baptist a target for splinter religious groups (cults) is found in the harsh truth of our lack of becoming a real disciple. Too few who claim to be ‘believers’ have walked the road of discipleship. And much of the time we tend to think of discipleship in term of ‘how much you know’ when actually authentic discipleship (as we will continue to discover in James) is more about ‘what you do with what you know.’ An athlete never gets strong only by reading. At some point he must take action. Endurance equals strength.
c) To be saturated – God desires for you and me to be mature, complete (perfect) and lacking nothing. This is a repeated theme in scripture. David wrote, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Jesus said, “If you (being evil) give good gifts to your kids, how much more will the Father give to His kids.” (Watts’s translation). In verse 17 of this chapter we read that ‘every good and perfect gift comes from the Father.” God does not want His children to go ‘lacking’, He wants to saturate you with everything you need! God desires for us to mature, to be complete, and to lack absolutely nothing. Honestly, He puts His money where His mouth is (while this is not good English it is great theology). In the Old Testament, God gave us His divine laws in the 10 Commandment. He demonstrated His awesome power and determined commitment to His people. He gave us a complete picture of who He is, what He is capable of, and ultimately what He WANTS for us. In the New Testament He gave us His only Son, the 2nd person of the Trinity, and a new covenant for us to embrace and enjoy. He gave us the possibility of permanent redemption through Jesus and the promise of eternal life. In the interim, God has sent us the 3rd person in the Holy Trinity (Holy Spirit) as a security deposit for what is ahead. It is only when we allow the Holy Spirit to control all we do that we can lack nothing. His Spirit is our resource for everything we need.
* D.L. Moody, from all accounts, was a Spirit-filled man. His life was a wonderful example of what God can do with a man who completely yielded to the Spirit. Many people lives were touched by his preaching and led to the Lord. When he was at the height of his ministry, a group of pastors met in Philadelphia to discuss plans for a city-wide evangelistic campaign. Among the decisions to be made, they had to select an evangelist. Quite a number of men were solidly in favor of inviting Moody, & they were talking of the wonderful things God was doing through him. One of the opposition spoke up and somewhat sarcastically said, "To hear you talk one would think that D.L. Moody has a monopoly on the Holy Spirit." "No,” said one pastor wisely. "We do not intend to create that impression. But I am convinced that the Holy Spirit has a monopoly on D.L. Moody."
* This is God’s desire for you and me, to be filled with the spirit.
2. The Directions from God for you. – One of the characteristics which God desires for us to gain from Him is wisdom. Today we confuse wisdom with knowledge. Simply put, knowledge is information while wisdom is knowing how to use that information. Knowledge is academic while true wisdom is pragmatic . God wants His kids to possess the wisdom to make good decisions in the face of trials, tests, and trouble. How?
a) Ask the right question – The Bible says that if we, as believers, lack anything, we should ask for it. In the context of our scripture, James is saying that if we do not possess the wisdom to handle our trials & tests, we should ask for it. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave us the “Ask” principle, which simply put is “Ask, Seek, and Knock.” This implies a passionate journey, not a simply request. What is it that you lack today? Do you lack passion for God? Then spend more time talking with (not just to) Him. Do you lack knowledge? While spending time with Him, have His word handy to gain the knowledge that you need. Do you lack wisdom? Ask God and get ready because God will place you into the very trial that you need to expose what you need, and He will give you the wisdom you need at the very time you need it. Remember this, when Solomon asked for wisdom, it was NOT a selfish request. He asked for the wisdom to do right by His people. It seems to me that His request reveals His heart & evoked a divine response from the Father. Scripture says, “Make your request KNOWN.” This is not a ‘name it, claim it’ type of philosophy. That is entirely a ‘man-made’ belief. If you have a need, take it to the Father and make the request. (Which bring us to-)
b) Ask the right one –At least once in our lives, most of us have gotten in over our heads by asking the right question to the wrong person. When my brother, my sister, and I were kids we never who to ask about things. When we would ask mom she would say to ask dad, when we would ask dad he would say to ask mom, so one time I remember thinking I would just ask ‘myself!’ (I never did that again!) Too often we ask & rely on the counsel of the wrong person or people. A few years ago a teacher noticed one of her students, a shy young girl, was having trouble working out her arithmetic assignment. The teacher went to the child quietly and asked if she could help with any questions knowing the girl was timid about asking for help. When the problem was sorted out the little girl thanked the teacher. The teacher told the little girl not to be shy about asking questions, “That’s one of the reasons I am here.” The little girl thought about that for a moment and asked quietly, “What’s the other reason?” When we come to God, we approach THE one who can answer any request that we might have. You lack wisdom today? Ask God.
c) Ask the right way – The text says to ask ‘in faith not doubting’ only to id what it means to doubt. Doubt kills the power of prayer. "For the first two or three years after my conversion, I used to ask for specific things. Now I ask for God. Supposing there is a tree full of fruits -- you will have to go and buy or beg the fruits from the owner of the tree. Every day you would have to go for one or two fruits. But if you can make the tree your own property, then all the fruits will be your own. In the same way, if God is your own, then all things in Heaven and on earth will be your own, because He is your Father & is everything to you; otherwise you will have to go and ask like a beggar for certain things.
* What would you be buried with, IF something was placed in your hand that represented your life?
