SDCCM Blog

James 1:27 – Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Our great desire should be to have our minds changed from the world’s viewpoints to embracing God’s perspective. Paul exhorted the church, “Put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him” (Colossians 3:10). The “new self” is Christ in us. Again, Paul says to the Philippians, “Have this mind in you that was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). Christ’s mind was one of humility, to do only what the Father willed.

The Lord Jesus Christ was not moved by the religion which had been hijacked through Jewish religious leaders. READ MORE – CLICK ABOVE

James 1:26 – If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.
I believe this to be one of the most powerful Scriptures in the Bible. It goes right to the heart of “religious” matters. Religion is filled with words, but the real evidence of true religion is how those words are used. Around the world, religious words are spoken to kill and destroy people or put them into bondage to systems. This is true of every religion of the world.

The problem actually began in the Garden at the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” It was there that the Serpent initiated the religions of the world when he asked Eve, “Hath God said.” READ MORE – CLICK ABOVE

James 1:25 – One who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.
This is an interesting Scripture. James connects liberty with listening. Our relationship with the Holy Spirit should be more about His speaking to us than our speaking to Him. He has a great deal to say to us in helping to bring our life into the liberty Christ has provided for every believer.

“Anyone who is a hearer of the word and not a doer forgets what kind of person he was” (James 1:23-24). An aspect of our liberty is located in remembering what kind of person I had been. As I read God’s Word, I am always reminded of the true lost condition I was in. Many believers hear the Word, but stop and camp on who they were in their fallen nature. The liberty James is addressing comes not only from hearing, but also by doing God’s Word. The “perfect law of liberty” is located in what Christ has done for us and our response by receiving what He has done. The forgetful hearer is limited in hearing the Holy Spirit. Remembering what I was without Christ should lead to what I am in Christ and the doing of His will. READ MORE – CLICK ABOVE

Ephesians 4:26-27 – Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.
Anger and unforgiveness are both hindrances to one’s ability to hear the Holy Spirit. Anger either is a result of unforgiveness or leads to unforgiveness. It is one of the greatest hindrances to a believer being able to hear clearly from the Spirit of God. Paul makes room for the human emotion of anger. God gets angry. Jesus expressed anger at the unbelieving religious leaders He encountered. He never gave way to His own emotions, but expressed His Father’s view of those hardened leaders.

Paul says, “Don’t let the sun go down on your anger.” I call this “keeping short accounts.” Sin creeps in and settles in one’s heart if not dealt with quickly. Anger at another is one of the most common ways for this to happen. READ MORE – CLICK ABOVE

James 1:19-20 – This you know my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
In James’ letter, he writes of the testing of our faith, a need of wisdom and humility to be demonstrated. He writes of the blessing for the one who perseveres under trial. He deals with the subject of temptation and deception. He establishes God’s character in his statement, “All good and perfect gifts come from God, the Father of lights” (James 1:17). God brought us forth by the word of truth and James declares, “This you know.” James reminds us, “We must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.” READ MORE – CLICK ABOVE

Matthew 16:15-17 – But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”
Peter was listening and the Spirit of God revealed to him this powerful truth that the other men had missed. READ MORE – CLICK ABOVE