James and Happy Thanksgiving

James

I can’t read the book of James without thinking of the first verse of the song, Great Is Thy Faithfulness.

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

James 1:17: Whatever is good and perfect comes down from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heaven. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.”

Who is this James, author of this epistle? He describes himself as “a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” and he was writing to the “twelve tribes” – Jewish believers scattered abroad.

If you recall, there were two apostles named James: 1) James, the brother of John, and 2) James, the son of Alpheas. When Peter was finally let into the house after his miraculous release from prison, he asked that to “tell James and the other brothers what happened, then he went to another place.” Although we haven’t read Galatians yet, there is a reference to a James who is the Lord’s brother.

In the epistle, James advices people to not just listen to the word, but also to do what it says. He then describes pur and genuine religions in the sight of God the Father as “caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” He speaks of drawing close to God and how God opposes the proud but favors or gives grace to the humble. He gives great advice about the devil: “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come close to God and God will come close to you.”

Tomorrow, we’ll read Acts 15 - 16.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope you have a blessed day,

Until next time…