We need to be careful!
Good morning brothers and sisters. You know when I am studying and preparing to write, God has a way of knocking me upside my head. And when I write, like I have said before, these are lessons for me that I share. These are the things that I am learning. This morning I was back in James and the conversation from the beginning of the week was still in my head. And I wonder, do we do this? I have a strong feeling that we do. So if it is in the word, don't you think we should heed what it is saying. James 2: 1-10. Yes to some of you this is long and I don't have time. I suggest we who call ourselves Christ followers make time. 1- My brethren do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. Just from the very first scripture, God's word is for everyone. We don't get to decide who is worthy and who isn't. Don't forget where you were when Jesus saved you! 2- For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, 3- and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, "You sit here in a good place," and say to the poor man, "You stand there," or, "Sit here at my footstool," 4- have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? But I want to take it a step further. Maybe you don't do that in "church" but do you do it in your home? Do you do it when you are out shopping? Maybe someone has done something wrong in their past and you don't let it go? Take God's word personal. 5- Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? Let me be the first to tell, usually your poor people have the strongest faith. They have nothing but Jesus! It is the rich who are proud and do not get to inherit the kingdom of God. So let's be careful! 6- But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? 7- Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called? Those are some very direct and great questions. Think about it. Now before you get all huffy, not all rich act this way. And it is NOT a sin to have money as long as you see it as God's money and do what He wills in your life. But I have to admit, most do not. 8- If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well; 9- but if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. We treat everyone the same no matter if they are the CEO of a Fortune 500 or they are homeless man laying on the street. They are all welcome in the arms of the Savior. We are to show Jesus to them all. One is easier than the other. But do notice that if you do show partiality, YOU HAVE SINNED! 10- For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. This last scripture sums it all up. We must follow all not the ones we want to. We don't get to pick and choose which ones we want to do and which we don't. Please let us not be this. Let's show the world Jesus. Repent, refresh, revive. Rise up children of God, rise up!