Mercy Truimphs

I borrowed the title of today's pondering from the study on James that I just completed today, named "James Mercy Triumphs" by Beth Moore.  What a fantastic study! Whenever I decide to dig in to a study this in depth, I realise just how little I know.  I assumed that James was one of Jesus disciples and although there was a disciple named James, he wasn't the one that penned the book of James.  The author of the book of James is none other than Jesus' own half brother. Presumably the oldest son of Mary and Joseph.  I know most of you probably realise that, but it was news to me.
  Studying these precious five chapters has been an amazing gift. God's perfect timing in my life.  It has uplifted me, surrounded me with peace and comfort during one of the most difficult times in my life.  As some of you know, we suffered the tragic and very sudden loss of my husbands younger sister a week before this past Christmas and while we continue to mourn her passing, the fact that this study started in January was no coincidence.  I have come to realise God's timing is purposeful and perfect.

I found this particular study to be easier in some ways and yet more in depth than other studies Beth Moore has written.  In this one she asked her readers to commit to however many levels we decided we could accomplish. There is five.
 1. Watch the videos - easy enough, incredibly informative and entertaining

 2.  Complete the Homework- I would get behind at times but have caught up and completed it now. It is truly fascinating how much easier it is to understand what is written when you learn about the traditions of the time.  The way she will explain what the original Greek or Hebrew text said, the meaning behind it and how and why it was translated the way it was.

3. Hand write James-  Easy enough to do, I would sit down and copy a chapter at a time, when I had time but she actually would get you to stop and write a few verses at time through out the study.  There were no hard and fast rules to this, you did what you could do when you could do it.

4. Read Articles-  dispersed through out the days and weeks of the study, Beth's daughter Melissa penned various articles that explained even more about the themes, the times and the traditions of the day.  Yet a whole new level! Very exciting!

5. Memorise James. - ok... this is where I stopped and decided, "well I'll try....".  Seriously though, with being the 40 something mother of a preschooler and a toddler, I'm lucky if I remember my own name some days  never mind an entire book of the bible!!

So I committed to completing the first four and would make an effort to accomplishing step 5.  As of today I have memorised the first four verses for sure sometimes I can even get to the fifth verse of the first chapter which may seem pathetic I know. Ironically though it is the first four verses that carried me through mourning the loss of our Jojo.

I decided to memorise these verses out of my NAS bible.  Let me try to type them without looking.... here goes.

James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. Greetings,

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when encountering various trials

knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance

and let endurance have its perfect result, so you may be made complete and perfect, lacking in nothing.

and if any of you lack wisdom, let them ask of God....

ok ... I have to check now if that is correct... that's about all I have memorised right at this moment.

ok , so I mixed up the order of some words. It should read "perfect and complete" and "but if any of you lack wisdom, let them ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach and it will be given to him.

Why wouldn't I just correct it?  I'm trying to see how much I actually committed to memory and am asking you to keep me accountable in a way I guess. lol.

Anyway.... these are the verses that kept me going.  It's hard , if not impossible to consider it all joy when thinking of the loss of our sister, but knowing that she is in heaven surrounded in His perfect love  is a joyful thought.  Verse five, "but if any of you lack wisdom, let them ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach and it will be given to him."  reminded me, daily, to pray for wisdom if nothing else.  If there is anything I KNOW for sure is God's timing is perfect, He is in full control. Though we may not agree or understand why these things happen especially when they happen, and may NEVER know this side of eternity what the purpose is, I KNOW  He knows. I KNOW  God is love, God is good and I can rest in  THAT knowledge.

Verse 27 of Chapter 1 also resonated in this circumstance.  "This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep one unstained by the world"

I could have chosen to shut myself and my immediate family away from all those around us. To cry for a seemingly senseless death of a beautiful woman, sister, friend. Which I guess to some degree we did, but we took our moments to do that, what was more important was her family. Her husband and her daughters.  If we were feeling hit hard by losing her, imagine what they were going through.  Gotta step up, get out of your own grief. Mourn, but not let it consume you to the point where you can't help those who need you more.

As the study continued and we got into the second chapter of James, more truth hit me square in the face.  James brings a very real issue up. One as real today as it was then. Favouritism. Seriously? Ask yourself. Do you treat someone who is well dressed and has money better than you would treat someone living on the street?  Of course. Most people would admit if we were really being honest with our selves.  verses 4 and 5 of the second chapter got to me.
4. have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?
5. Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?

Does it make you think twice about how you treat those "less fortunate"?  Convicted me, I know that!

James does give us a little encouragement though.
verse 8.  If, however, you are fulfilling  the royal law, according to the scripture, " You shall love your neighbour as yourself," you are doing well.

whew! But are you? Treating others, rich or poor, black or white, short, tall, fat , skinny, etc. the same as how YOU  would like to be treated? If so, way to go!  If not, keep verse 13 in mind.

13.  For judgement will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy, mercy triumphs over judgement.

It kind of keeps mercy for others in the forefront of the mind doesn't it??  Let's remember here, James was speaking to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. Meaning the twelve tribes of Israel.  God's chosen people.  Believers.  We as Christians are the ones he is speaking to. He's asking us these tough questions. So many people believe the words in the Bible to be harsh and judgemental to them as "non-believers".  Is that because we who claim to be Christians  and have not studied the very Word that God has given to us through the pages of this sacred text, twisted them around to point the finger at those who aren't believers to convict them? Is it any wonder why some say "take your judgement and ram it." ? Thinking that is all Christianity is about. Pointing the finger at judging others?  Again , refer back to James 1:13.   If we are true believers, we've asked God for forgiveness and been cleansed of all our sin, we've asked the Holy Spirit into our hearts, we MUST be transformed. Salvation is a free gift given to us through the sacrifice of Christ's blood on the cross and his resurrection. We just need to accept that free gift.  Does it stop there though? James brings in the question,  "What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?"  in verse 14.  He goes on to explain what does it matter if you come across someone who is in need of food or clothing and we as Christians just say basically "alright then, be blessed, eat and get yourself some new threads" and then just walk away without helping to supply what they need when we are very capable of doing so, what the heck is the point?? What use was that??  If you see someone in need and you can help, then do it!  Ok. so I used my own words there but you get the point.

We are so incredibly blessed in this country. Most of us have jobs, a house, clothes, food, vehicles, vacation homes or at least vacation time and enough money in the bank to go some where to unwind. We have so much and some of us have it in abundance! Over abundance really. To the point that does it sometimes seem to you like we are in some kind of race to see you can possess the most stuff??  Meanwhile there are countries around the globe that don't even have clean water to drink. Forget about hordes of clothing in varying sizes that we hold on to. Not to mention every other thing we pack into our storage areas and garages because some day we may need them.  Some people living in slums that we wouldn't consider laying our baby toe into if we had the choice. Yes, turn off that giant screen t.v. so we don't have to be inconvenienced with feeling something for those less fortunate.   I can put my $20.00 in the offering plate and say I did something for the greater good of humanity.  Then look down at the woman sitting next to me and get enthralled with choice of foot wear then start thinking of the next possible moment I can go in search of my next collection of summer foot wear.   Now don't get me wrong, nothing wrong with a little shopping therapy... but what about those gently used items?  Could we seriously not go through the mounds of possessions we have that we no longer use and give them to someone or an organisation that will give them to people who are in need of them. There are countless agencies that have chosen to fulfil those very needs. Is it that hard to pick up a phone and have them pick it up? Even better, throw them into the car and drop them off.  I'm truly not pointing the finger at anyone in particular except maybe myself first and foremost.
 I know, I've gone off on a rant... but my point is this, Jesus wants us to take care of those who need help. If we have the means to do that, is it really that hard?

Moving on...

James 3 is all about controlling the tongue. How we bless our Lord and Father one minute and curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God the next.  How it's just not to be that way.  I don't know about you but I've heard and said the statement "wow, you kiss your mother with that mouth?" or  really, " you sing praises to God with that mouth?" This chapter spoke truth into my heart for sure! I'll just point out a couple of verses from this chapter. verses 16-17.

"For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy."

For me, this spoke to my heart because I do, at times, get jealous of what others have that I don't or can't afford. I have selfishly forged ahead in hot pursuit of possessions or even promotions that I wanted but certainly didn't need only to realise that it didn't bring me the joy and satisfaction I thought it would. Sometimes even feeling sick to my stomach over the cost of getting it.  Did I work so hard to be able to afford unnecessary items at the expense of spending time with my family and friends?  Let's not even mention talking about other people and judging how they are living their lives.  Controlling the tongue is a tough thing. This is where I ask for wisdom from above and ask God to fill me with mercy and grace for others as He as shown to me.  It's a process isn't it? Wisdom and growth?

James 4 had a few special verses for me. Verses 3, 7-8,11 and 14 in particular.  So many times we as Christians spend time in prayer asking for the desires of our hearts. Verse 3 says "You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures."  I think this spoke to me right now because I was just saying to my husband how great it would be to have an acreage somewhere south west of town. Somewhere we could enjoy the view of the mountains, get out of the hustle and bustle of city life, and while we're dreaming, maybe even have a few horses.  Now while this is a perfectly fine dream to have, we seriously could never afford that right now and is just ridiculous.  Ridiculous because I found myself thinking "Seriously God, if I had that, I would totally dedicate it to you! I'd open up our home to events and retreats to people in the church. How great would that be?"  I'm thinking it would be great! Is that the real motivation though?  I have to ponder on that some more... lol. As I do I think of verse 7 and 8.

"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. "

James speaks about being just a vapour that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.  That got me thinking about how truly short our lives are.  I didn't need to think on that too hard as my sister in laws life was so short.  It makes me realise the pursuit of all these things just isn't the important thing.  What am I doing in this short time?  Am I so focused on trivial things? Trivial worries and stresses that just don't matter?  This life is just so short. We have to make every moment count.  To be grateful for all we have and to share it with others.

Making it this far through the study, you definitely feel a little beat up.  Totally convicted and a little like a dog with it's head hanging and tail tucked between it's legs. I did anyway.  Chapter five nailed me with discussing patience.  Not one of my virtues! but to strengthen my heart towards the Lord. To not complain about one another. To not judge.

Then verse 11 got to me.

Behold, we count those blessed who endured.  You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lords dealings that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.  After studying Job's story, we are completely assured that this is true.  I mean, Job had everything taken from him, his family, his riches , his health. He never lost faith. He knew God was in control and praised His name in the middle of everything.  God gave him everything he had lost two fold!  Who among us is really put to the test like that?

Verses 13-16 are so reassuring.

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises.  Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;  and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.  Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you maybe healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

In the ladies group that I meet with once a week and am doing this study with, we have the opportunity to pray together. To pray over one another. The blessing and honour it is to be able to be a part of that kind of "family" is incredible. I don't have the words to express what it is like. The power of selfless intercessory prayer for one another is an amazing thing to be a part of.  I have been blessed in the past to be prayed over in very difficult times and the overwhelming peace is straight from God Himself. I'm incredibly grateful.

 So what has all of this taught me when all is said and done?

You have to LIVE your faith. Faith without works is dead.  That if you have truly been transformed in Christ, those around you should and will see it through your works.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind , body and soul.  Love your neighbor as yourself.  Don't judge others because there is only one Judge who is worthy to do that.  Show the love, compassion and mercy of Him who has shown it to you. Don't forget the poor, the widowed and the orphaned.  Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you.  We don't have the answers for everything but there is One who knows and is in control.  We make a choice when pondering the bad and unjust and unexplained events of our lives. We can get mad, bitter and resentful, resulting in anger and depression or we can have peace in the knowledge that God can use all things for good for those who love Him.  We can help those who have been in similar circumstances, showing them there is hope. God is loving and compassionate and merciful.

There is a lot to do and time is short, what choice will you make?