James 4:10

Verse of the Day Devotion: James 4:10 

“Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.” – James 4:10             

James here, in this passage, is telling the Christians to remain humble before the Lord.  When we either go before God in prayer and praise, or in studying His word, we must remember who we are and who we are going to.  He is God, the Almighty Creator of all things.  We are man, someone whom He created.  This is an infinite gap between us.  All mankind has sinned against Him, from Adam and Eve to us individually.  We have gone against His commands and were destined for eternal punishment. 

But in God’s love and mercy, knowing that we had no possible way of paying the penalty for ourselves, sent His only begotten Son to die in our stead.  For it took a perfect being to earn salvation, however, no one has ever lived this perfect life except for Jesus.  “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2.

Based on these verses, what could be our reason for exalting ourselves before God?  Were we perfect? No.  Did we deal with our own sin?  No. Did we help Him in any way with the process?  Absolutely not.  However, because of the joy set before Him, He endured what we deserved, death.  In tasting death for every man, He is set down at the right hand of the Father, and as the theologian Adam Clarke said in his comment on Hebrews 12:2, “ever appearing in the presence of God for us, and continuing His exhibition of Himself as our sacrifice, and His intercession as our mediator.”  We could do nothing; therefore, He did everything.

One last thing that it is important to remember, as Paul said to the Philippians, “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13. What God calls us to do, He works in us to fulfil His will In us.  To think we do it all is a misunderstanding.  We submit to Him and He does a great work through us.  He has a similar statement that he wrote to the Thessalonians.  “To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12.  It is God who makes us worthy of His calling on us and will do a great work through us by His power, so that Jesus may be glorified in us, and us in Him.  It is here, in Him working through us, that we are glorified, where we are exalted.

Because He created us, then saved us when we sinned, then works through us to accomplish His will, we have no standing to come before Him in anyway but humbly.  For we are, as Christians, who we are because of Him.  Let us always remember this, so that when we go before God, we come in humility. Our future is set, and we will live forever with Him in glory.  What a great gift along with the others He has already shown us. 

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.

James 1:27

Verse of the Day Devotion: 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.” – James 1:27           

In our focus verse, we see the word ‘religion’ used, which is seldom used within the scriptures.  The word here generally speaks regarding keeping the external requirements.  This is how the devout Jews of that day saw true religion, especially those who were in leadership.  James here does not see true religion this way.  He sees it as a much deeper idea.  For purposes of clarity, I will use the phrase ‘Christian Walk’ rather than religion going forward.

He starts out with the phrase ‘pure and undefiled’.  This refers to a genuine and sincere walk with Christ. We should strive for this type of walk which is real and sincere.  It should be one that God Himself sees as genuine.  The Jews believed that as long as they fulfilled all the rituals of the Law, then everything was OK.  They saw the outward expression as a picture of what was a true or false type of religion. However, James lays out the premise that there are two ideas regarding a genuine walk with God:  the external and the internal. 

In the verse prior to our focus verse we read the following, ”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.”  James 1:26. There is an external component with a genuine Christian walk.  James uses the words we say as an example; however, it encompasses all of our behavior.  As I heard many years ago, we must not only do the do’s, but we also must not do the don’ts.  Yes, we must focus on both sides.  We must not yell and curse at anyone, but we must also encourage and show others we love them. 

So, in our focus verse, James mentions two things that show a genuine Christian walk.  First, that we are to love and assist others where needed.  “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress,” James 1:27a.  In this we imitate God.  And this is what we should do.  “A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, Is God in His holy habitation.” Psalm 68:5.  In the days of James, the Jewish leadership did not regard the widows and orphans as important.  So, he uses this as a clear example of how we are to act.  We are to help those who have no means to help themselves, and in this we show them the love of God. 

In the same verse we see an internal component.  “and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” James 1:27b.  Paul put it like this, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2.  We must no allow ourselves to act as the world does, no matter what pressure is placed upon us.  We must strive for perfection, not just better.  “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:48.  Unfortunately, we will not always be perfect.  But when we do sin, then we must confess it to God, and He will forgive us. 

It is important we see that our Christian walk must be lived both internally and externally.  This is the mark of a genuine relationship with God.  That we show love by meeting the needs of those who need us, and to strive to be like Him.  By fulfilling the internal, the external will come naturally.  This is what God desires of us, and He will be with us to help in making it happen.  He wants us to be genuine and real, both in our desire to have our heart changed, and in the love we have for Him and our fellow man.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries. 

James 2:1

Verse of the Day Devotion: James 2:1 

“My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.” – James 2:1        

In this verse, James is laying out the command that we are not to show favoritism toward anyone.  We are all one body together and we all have different functions within the body.  And none of these are more important than another.  Let us look at the next couple of verses that lays it our perfectly.  “For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, you sit here in a good place, and you say to the poor man, you stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” James 2:2-3. This is not right in any shape or form.  How can we judge someone by their appearance?  If we do, we are not judging by God’s standard but by our own.

Lets look at these two examples.  I will assume that we do not know either.  First, if we show favoritism to the rich man, it is probably because we feel it will be to our advantage.  We will be with a prominent and probably important person.  If we can develop a relationship with him, it could help lift our stature in the eyes of others.  They will see that we are with him and this may help us to gain greater esteem.  And by placing this rich man away from us at the same time we believe this will add to that advantage.  We may not think this way, but if we favor one thing over another, it is because we believe we will benefit from it.  And unfortunately it is the same with people.

Now, lets look at how these two people would take what we have done.  The rich man will see he has an advantage because we have accepted him immediately.  But what of the poor man?  Will he feel accepted?  No.  And this is probably how his whole life has been.  We just look at him and determine there is no advantage of being with him, so we set him aside and leave him alone.  How does this make the poor man feel?  Probably rejected once again.  Is this how we wish to be treated?  “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.” Luke 6:31.

Now, I am not trying to accuse anyone.  I am simply describing this idea to an extreme.  What I am saying is that all people need to know they are as accepted as anyone else.  When I was growing up, I was ostracized by most of the kids in school.  I grew up in a poor family, wore hand-me-downs or cheap versions of clothing.  I wanted friends, but many would not give me any time, but hung out with the popular ones.  Finally, I found someone in my same position and I finally had a friend.  It was hard and debasing.  No one should ever treat anyone this way.  And God does not want us to favor one person over another.  We are equal in His sight.  He loves us all equally and provided salvation to us equally.  We are to be like Christ; therefore we are to treat everyone the same.  I pray we can, as children of God, fulfill this and show love to everyone we meet.  Who knows what incredible work can be accomplished by this simple act of love.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.