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JAMES
James 1:1
I, James, am writing this letter to Jewish people who trust in the Lord Jesus who are scattered throughout the world. Greetings!
When you experience difficulties that test whether or not you will continue to trust God, rejoice greatly and keep on bravely enduring them in order that you may become all that God intends you to be.
If you want to have wisdom to know what to do when difficulties come, ask God to help you, and firmly trust him.
Believers who are poor and those who are rich should both value highly what God has done for them, rather than focusing on their material resources that will disappear.
God blesses those who bravely endure difficulties; he will reward them by causing them to live eternally.
If people are tempted to do something evil, they should not think that it is God who is tempting them. It is their own evil desires that are tempting them to do evil.
Stop thinking wrongly that God tempts you to do evil things, because God does only good things for us.
Every one of you should eagerly pay attention to God’s message and should not speak hastily or get angry easily.
So stop doing all kinds of evil things, and do what God commands in his message, instead of just listening to it. God approves of those who do what he wants them to do.
Those who show compassion on people in need and who do not think or act immorally are those who truly worship God and receive his approval.
Stop honoring some people more than others, because by doing that, you are disobeying God’s law that we should love one another.
Continually act mercifully toward others, because God will not act mercifully to those who do not act mercifully toward others.
Anyone who says that he trusts in Jesus Christ but does not act compassionately toward others is not truly trusting in Jesus.
But someone may claim that some people are saved because they trust in God and other people are saved because they do good things for others. In answer to that, the inadequacy of faith without good deeds is demonstrated by the example of demons. From the examples of Abraham and Rahab we can see that only by obeying God and doing good things for others can people prove that they truly trust in God.
Not many of you should become teachers, because God will judge teachers with greater severity than he will judge others. You should all strive to speak what is right, because what you say has a powerful effect on others, and it is often destructive and hypocritical.
If you are jealous of others and self-seeking, do not boast that you are wise. Instead, demonstrate that you are truly wise by doing good things and by acting peaceably and compassionately toward others.
You are fighting among yourselves because of your evil desires, and you are never getting what you want because you pray with wrong motives.
You are unfaithful to God and are behaving as evil people do, so you have become God’s enemies, but he wants to help you. He opposes the proud, but he helps those who are humble.
So submit yourselves to God and resist the devil. Stop doing wrong things and thinking wrong thoughts. Be sorry for having sinned. Humble yourselves before God, and he will honor you.
Stop saying evil things about one another and thus condemning each other. Only God has the right to condemn people.
You should not boast about what you will do in the future, because life is transitory. Instead, you should plan to do whatever God wants you to do, because boasting about what you want to do, rather than considering the will of God, is sinful.
The rich people who oppress you should weep because they will suffer much. God will punish them because they have unjustly caused others to suffer.
So wait patiently for the Lord Jesus Christ to return and to judge all people fairly. Do not complain about each other, lest Jesus judge you when he returns. From the examples of the prophets and Job, we know that God blesses and rewards those who patiently endure suffering.
Do not say, “If I am lying, may God punish me.” Instead, always tell the truth, so that God will not condemn you.
Whatever your circumstances are, pray, trusting in God, and he will certainly help you, both physically and spiritually. So confess your sins to each other and pray for each other, because God answers prayer.
If anyone turns away from God’s true message, you believers should urge him to once again obey God so that God will forgive his many sins.

© 2008-2017 Ellis W. Deibler, Jr.