Send me a Text Message!

In the last episode I said that James is really describing a life of trust in his letter to those who are scattered. A life of trust listens to, learns from and leans into the word of God, and a life trust not only breathes in those words, but also breathes out in prayer. So where is God asking you to respond, to trust him today? Over the
course of the centuries you can hear this man James saying; "It will be worth it if you get to the point where you can hear God's voice and trust God's Word. Hear and Do. Listen, learn and lean.

We keep asking if we trust God, but maybe He's asking, "Can I trust you?"

Send me a Text Message!

My goal through this podcast and my prayer for all of us is that we would be drawn to the Words of God, that we would develop a hunger to hang out with Jesus and listen to the whisper of His spirit through our hearts and out our ears. My goal is that we would go to this book (the Bible) again and again in search of gold. That our incentive would be the precious treasure of God-birthed healing in our hearts, inspiring our minds, and renewing our spirits.

But my concern is that sometimes we treat the Words of God like a common worthless penny. We'll take it if somebody gives it to us, but don't expect me to dig for it. But what if one of God's greatest gifts are the Words He speaks?

Send me a Text Message!

Sometimes we get scattered and distracted, we walk through difficult paths in life, in part, because we didn't have a good guide to life. Or maybe you had no guide; no one to show you the sights in the daylight; how to journey to all the good parts and through the hard parts. But here’s what I think James might say to us today, “You have a Father, a Father in heaven who knows the way to a life that thrives, even in the scattered times. Follow him.

So the question for this episode in a life of prayer is simply, "Do you know your Dad?" I'm talking now about your heavenly Dad. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray he said, "Ok, when you pray...say Father."

Send me a Text Message!

One of the questions that comes up frequently in regards to prayer is simply, "Does prayer matter?" I often receive some version of that question in relationship to unanswered prayer. Every death, every war, every cancer, every season of depression, every divorce stands as a monument to unanswered prayer. And so we hear the question in our hearts, "Does prayer matter?" I believe with all my heart that prayer is at the heart of our relationship with God and asking is at the heart of our prayers. But the bottom line is that few things motivate me to pray like answers to prayer.

So here's the question for this episode, "Are there any prayers that God always answers?"

Send me a Text Message!

In this episode, we will ponder for a few moments how our lives can make an impact and leave a legacy. An impact is what we make while we're still living. A legacy is what that impact leaves behind when we are gone. Remember Hebrews 12:4, we read that one a few times in this series, it says, "Let us run with perseverance the race that is marked out for us, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” In other words, you have a particular race, a way that God is shaping you to make an impact and leave a legacy.

But there are some common principles for running that race to make an impact and leave a legacy. So we are going to look at Jesus' unique race to help us learn how to make an impact and leave a legacy...and what that has to do with a life of prayer.

Send me a Text Message!

James says that you are a kind of first-fruits of God's creative work. His work in you, in the midst of the trouble, His work in you is a first-fruit of His creative work. Think about that for a moment. You are a first-fruit. You're not a remnant; you're His firstfruits. What do I mean by that? Sometimes in scattering times. When persecution comes and following Jesus is hard, we start thinking I'm all that's left. All that's left is a remnant. It's a mindset that says, I have to hang on to what I got with all I got. Because I'm all that's left. But listen, you're not all that's left, you are the first of what's to come. You're not the ending, you're the beginning. What God is doing in you, He going to multiply through you.

And what He's doing in you is writing a story of overflowing joy!

Send me a Text Message!

We will miss the thriving life God has for us if we believe that the best way to find life is to avoid suffering at all costs. Isn't that James message in the first words of his letter to the scattered? See I wonder, if the question that people in James' day were wrestling with was the same question we ask in hard times? Is God good? Can I trust Him? If I say yes to God, is He going to mess up my life or give me life? And then we hear James says, “Count it pure joy when you run into trials and troubles." Welcome problems like a friend.

Why in the world would we do this? We would only do it if indeed hard times bring the good life.

Send me a Text Message!

The bible talks so much about joy. It's all over Jesus' words just before the cross, in John 14-17. He talks about bringing joy as part of his overall purpose. Paul talks a lot about joy. And James leads with it in his letter to those who are scattered. It's almost like, joy is at the heart of God's plan for his people, his family. When James writes, "consider it pure joy when you face trials," it's almost like joy is in the non-optional category. It's almost like joy is a command. And if joy is a command, do you know what that means? It means joy must be a choice.

Does it bother you a bit, when I say, "we can choose joy?" Regardless of our circumstances, our setting, our hard times, can I choose joy?