Daily Bible Readings-Week 4
Starter Question
Where have you been blessed this week? Where have you been challenged?
September 27
James 1:13-15, When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
The word for “testing” has a wide range, including, the understanding of temptation. However, this is where James wants to make a clear distinction for his readers. God cannot be tempted by evil nor does God does tempt anyone to succumb to evil.
Throughout history, people tested God in the sense they tried his patience but never in the sense that they could lead Him to sin. God has tested His people, like he did with Abraham in asking him to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice.
However, God never tests or tempts anyone with the intention of causing them to sin. Instead, God’s motive in testing is always, in love, seeking to develop a persevering strength of character in His followers. Satan’s motive in temptation is to entice people to fall away from their faith in God which would lead to their eternal destruction.
Because God is perfect and holy, He cannot be tempted nor is there anything in His nature open to any form of evil. Scripture is clear that God hates evil.
So, for God to become fully human, through His Son Jesus, was a remarkable feat on His part to enter into our sinful brokenness. In His humanity, Jesus was tempted as we are. However, unlike us, He never yielded to one single temptation.
Hebrews 4:15-16, For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Whenever we go through various times of testing, we have a God of grace who is willing to show mercy and help us through these difficult moments to resist temptation and persevere in faith.
Question to Consider:
What is the help you have been given when you have confidently gone to God’s throne of grace?
Weekly Memory Verse:
James 4:7, Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
September 28
James 1:13-15, When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Although James does not deny Satan’s role as we will see later this week, he emphasizes here the human element in succumbing to temptation. In contrast to Greek writings, where people protested that temptation was irresistible, biblical teaching recognizes that we are responsible for our choices.
Temptation is powerful because of our own evil desires. Human beings are fallen spiritually and morally. We have a bent toward sinning. Jesus said it this way,
Matthew 15:19, For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
The unredeemed heart is full of devilish thoughts that lead to evil words and actions. So, if we allow our minds to journey down the path to satisfy our sinful inklings, such thoughts will eventually conceive and give birth to sin. If we do not stop the thoughts, evil wins out. We will be guilty of sin.
If sin is left unchecked and unconfessed, it will continue to grow and take over and cause spiritual and eternal death.
This is why we need a redeemer. It is why Jesus not only saves us from the problem of sin but also from the power of sin. Through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit given at redemption, we begin the lifelong process of transformation of becoming brand new people where the desires fed by our sinful nature diminish and have less and less hold upon us.
Instead of thinking about how to please our sinful desires, we think about how to please Jesus. We think differently. The channels of our minds have been switched heavenward to think the beautiful thoughts of God.
Questions to Consider:
How have you seen the power of your thoughts play out in your life? What helps you change the channel to positive and holy thoughts?
Weekly Memory Verse:
James 4:7, Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
September 29
James 1:16-18, Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
In contrast to anyone who thinks that God is the source of temptation and would entice us to sin, James makes it absolutely clear that God is the source of the exact opposite. God is good and generous and can by his holy nature only give us perfect gifts. Every beautiful gift we have is from our Heavenly Father.
James gives us several examples. He is the God who gave us the great lights visible in the heavens that provide us life. It is, also, implied that God gives spiritual light to all who look to Him for their salvation.
This is the same God we can count on being the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He does not change like the shadows that sweep across the earth. He is the same faithful and good God day in and day out.
This is the God who willingly and lovingly offers us spiritual birth through the truth that Jesus spoke and lived and died to shower upon us. God gave us the greatest gift of all- the promise of life, abundant life, and eternal life.
The promise is for all who trust in Jesus as their Redeemer. As Jewish Christians, they were the firstfruits from the harvest of all who would ever believe. This can also speak of Christians in each generation who are the firstfruits of those who will believe in the future.
In contrast to a God who would tempt us to fall on our faces, we have an amazingly good and pure God who loves to shower us with many wonderful life-giving gifts.
Questions to Consider:
What are the greatest gifts God has given you? How do they encourage you to trust in God’s unchanging and good nature?
Weekly Memory Verse:
James 4:7, Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
September 30
James 4:4-5, You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?
I cannot imagine addressing our congregation as, “You adulterous people!” I imagine it would be the last time I did so!
James used Old Testament imagery as he compared God’s people to God’s bride. As the prophets often did, James knows something is happening among his audience and rebuked them for their spiritual unfaithfulness to Christ.
This passage is included with the previous passage on temptation as a further demonstration of where our sinful desires can lead if we are not vigilant. We switch loyalties and become friends with the world.
The world of which he speaks is not the world of creation. It is not even the world in which we, necessarily, live our lives each day. The world James speaks of is the realm of darkness that infiltrates individuals, relationships, and structures where God is not worshiped and His Word is not followed.
Sadly, some Christ-followers had become friendly with this dark world and its ungodly ways. James points out it is no small matter to buddy up with sin because you make yourself an enemy of God. It was so important for them to understand what they were doing that James repeated himself.
James tells us this is so because God jealously wants you all for Himself. He wants your spirit. He wants the deepest part of you. If He has your spirit, He has you. This demonstrates God’s intense love for you. He refuses to share you and demands your total devotion to be with Him alone.
Question to Consider:
How does it encourage you to be a faithful follower to know that God loves you so much that He jealously watches over you and wants you all to Himself?
Weekly Memory Verse:
James 4:7, Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
October 1
James 4:6-10, But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
James gave them the appropriate response to their unfaithfulness to God. He reminded them that God is full of grace and offers it generously to those humble enough to receive it. However, God is opposed to the proud because they elevate themselves and refuse to receive from God what they most desperately need.
James gives 10 remedies which calls for decisive action to unfriend themselves from the sinful world into which they had fallen. The first three are preventive, and the last seven are for those who have become unfaithful to Jesus.
Submit to God- give up the fake act and give yourself anew in declaring Christ as Savior and Lord.
Resist the devil- when we speak a definitive “No” to Satan, he has no choice but to flee from us.
Come near to God- as we resist the devil, we must choose to come close to God, and He will come close to us and give us spiritual victory.
Wash your hands- change your actions. Stop doing what is ungodly. Start doing what is good and holy.
Purify your hearts- wholeheartedly confess your sin, and God promises to forgive and cleanse you.
Grieve. Mourn. Wail. Change your laughter to mourning and joy to gloom- these 5 commands speak of how deeply sorrowful we should be when we discover we have been unfaithful to Christ.
Humble yourselves- this is the overarching attitude required for all of these remedies to become real so that God’s grace can do its work and lift you out of your darkness.
Question to Consider:
Do any of these 10 remedies speak into your life? If so, what will you do?
Weekly Memory Verse:
James 4:7, Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.