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Good morning friends,
Today is Thursday May 16 and if you are tracking with us in the 150 days of Chronologically following the story of the Bible and what happened in those first years after Jesus returned to heaven and His followers spread the Gospel and the Church of Jesus was begun. . .today we make a big turn.
As we’ve seen in the first 14 chapters of Acts, remarkable things happened… first in Jerusalem with the Apostles; then Samaria with Philip, then Caesarea with Cornellius and Peter; then Antioch with Barnabas and Saul; then their first missionary journey to Cyprus and a few cities in Central Asia. That covers a lot of geography and many very different cultures, even ‘people groups’. The Holy Spirit was powerfully changing lives, thousands of lives, everywhere the Gospel was being shared by people who had experienced Jesus!
Have you wondered what else was going on, especially back in Jerusalem where it all started, while we have been traveling with this spreading movement? Among other things Jesus’ 1/2 brother James, who had not believed in Him while Jesus was alive, evidently was convinced by a personal encounter with the resurrected Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:7) and he became a passionate follower of Jesus. In the months following, James rose quickly to leadership within the Jesus movement.
James, of course, knew Jesus differently from His disciples. James had grown up with Jesus in the same house! His name is listed in Mark 6:3, in fact his name is first, suggesting he is Joseph & Mary’s firstborn son, after Jesus.
Have you ever wondered what it would have been like growing up a sibling to Jesus? I have. We don’t know exactly when, but it likely was during the time period of Acts 10-14 that James felt compelled by the Holy Spirit, and probably constant questions from people, to write a letter. A letter to those caught up in this remarkable Jesus movement, especially those suffering persecution which broke out against these Christians beginning after the murder of Stephen (Acts 8:1-3).
The letter James wrote is the little 5 chapter book we have today in our New Testament called ‘James’. So over these next five days, let’s read that together, imagining we are among the thousands who have heard the Gospel from those who knew Jesus well, His Disciple/Apostles, and we are suffering persecution because of it.
That’s why James begins addressing his letter to the Christian Jews “scattered”. That word scattered is how they viewed what God had allowed to happen as they fled persecution in Jerusalem and settled all over the Roman Empire…only to find, they were often persecuted there also.
Oh my friends, James packs so much into 27 little verses in James chapter 1, you may need to read it two or three times. He begins challenging us to receive persecution, hard times as actually opportunities for us to evaluate the authenticity of our relationship with Jesus. How strong and vibrant is it really?
James deals with doubt, right up front.
He had doubted, and he learned some important lessons in that doubt.
In many ways James 1 sounds like Proverbs…so much wise advice on living a God honoring, Christ following, Holy Spirit empowered life, in an evil and trouble filled world.
You’ll want to have your pen handy as you read, for I’m convinced the Holy Spirit will touch your heart many times. Here’s one of my anchor verses in this chapter: James 1:22 “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says!”
Friends, let’s do that…today and all the rest of this 150 days together. Let’s apply and practice what God’s Words says to us.
Now I invite you to dig into James 1… and let’s live it!
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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